LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



BRIEF EXPLANATIONS OF RELIGIOUS TERMS 
AS UNDERSTOOD BY UNIVERSALISTS. 



J. W. HANSON, D.D. 



The water of the Stream of Life, 
With clear, celestial patience rife, 
Falls 'mid Hadeen gloom and din 
On the colossal Stone of Sin. 

Descending from its sonrce above, 
This water of the Land of Lore, 
On some divinely joyful day, 
Shall wear the awful Stone away! 



UNIVERSALIS! PUBLISHING HOUSE. 




BOSTON: 




1892. 



Copyright, 1892, 
By Uniyeesalist Publishing House. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031442 



Uniyersity Press: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE. 



IHIS book aims to furnish inquirers with a handy 



manual in which they can find answers to ques- 
tions frequently asked as to the views of Universalists 
on the different points of Christian theology. Ko 
attempt at elaborate exposition or proof is made; but 
brief, plain statements are given, indicating the views 
held by our people on subjects of interest. References 
are also made, under the various heads, to books in which 
the subjects designated are more fully treated; which 
works can be found at the Universalist Publishing 
House, Boston, Mass., or at the Western Branch, 
69 Dearborn Street, Chicago, 111. 




INDEX. 



Acceptable Year of the 

Lord, 7- 
Accursed, 7- 
xldvocate, 7- 
iEon, seonian, etc., 7. 
Agency, Divine, 8. 
Agency, Human, 8. 
Ancient History of Uni- 

versalism, 9. 
Angel, 10. 
Anger, 10. 
Anger, God's, 10 
Antichrist, 11. 
Atonement, 11. 
Attributes of God, 12. 

Baptize, Baptism, etc., 13. 
Beelzebub, 13. 
Belief, 13. 
Bible, 14. 
Bible Proofs, 14. 
Bible Threatening, 16. 
Birth, yevr, 16. 
Birth, Second, 16. [16. 
Blasphemv, Holy Spirit, 
Blood, 17.* 
Blood of Christ, 18. 
Body, Animal, 18. 
Bodv, Resurrection of, 18. 
Body, Spiritual, 19. 
Bottomless Pit, 19. 
Broad and Narrow Way, 
19. 

Brotherhood, Human, 20. 

Change after Death, 20. 
Charitv, 21. 
Child 6f HeU, 21. 
Children, Nature of, 21. 
Children of God, 22. 
Children of the Resurrec- 
tion, 22. 



Christ, 22. 
Christ's Sake, 23. 
Christian, 23. 
Church, 23. 

Coming of Christ, Second, 

etc., 24. 
Consuming Fire, 24. 
Conversion, etc., 24. 
Correction, 24. 
Covenant, 25. 
Creed, Universalis*;, 25. 
Creeds, 25. 

Damnation, 25. 
Dav of Judgment, 26. 
Dead, 26. 
Death, 26. 
Death, Second, 27- 
Demons, etc., 27. 
Destroy, etc., 28. 
Destruction, 28. 
Devil, Personal, 28. 
Discipline, 28. 
Divinity of Christ, 29. 



Easter, 30. 
Election, 30. 
Emmanuel, 30. 
End of World, 31. 
Eternal, 32. 
Eternal Eire, 32. 
Eternal Judgment, 32. 
Eternal Life, 32. 
Evangelical, 33. 
Everlasting, 33. 
Everlasting Destruction, 
36. 

Everlasting Punishment, 

37. 
Evil, 37. 
Expiation, 38. 



Eaith, 38. 

Eall of Man, 33. 

Fatherhood of God, 39. 

Fear, 40. 

Fire, 40. 

Fire and Brimstone, 40. 
Fire, Consuming, 41. 
Fire, Hell, 51. 
Fire, Lake of, 41. 
Fire, Unquenchable, 85. 
Forever, etc., 42. 
Forgiveness, 43. 
Furnace of Fire, 43. 
Future Life, 44. 
Future Punishment, 69. 



Gehenna, 45. 
General Judgment, 46. 
Gnashing: of Teeth, 47- 
God, 47. 

God's Attributes, 12, 47. 
Gospel, 48. 
Great Gulf, 43. 

Hades, 43. 
Heaven, 50. 
Hell, 50. 

Hell, brought down to, 50. 

Hell, Child of. 51. 

Hell Fire, 51. 

History, Ancient, of Uni- 
versalism, 9. 

Historv. Modern, of Uni- 
versalism, 61. 
! Holiness, 51. 
I Holy Ghost, 51. 

Holy Spirit, 51. 

Human Nature, 52. 

Immortal Life, 52. 
Immortality, 53. 



8 



INDEX. 



Imputation, 53. 
Infants, 53. 
Inspiration, 53. 
Intercession, 54. 
Intermediate State, 54. 

Jesus, 54. 
Judgment, 54. 
Judgment, Day of, 26. 
Judgment, General, 46. 
Judgment, Last, 56. 
Judgment of Hell, 55. 
Judgment to Come, 55. 
Justice, 55. 

Kingdom of Christ, 56. 
Kingdom of God, Heaven, 
56. 

Lake of Tire, 41. 
Last Day, 56. 
Last Days, 56. 
Last Judgment, 56. 
Latter Times, 57. 
Law, God's, 57- 
Life, 57. 

Life, Future, 44. 
Lose his Soul, 57. 
Loss of Soul, 57. 
Lost, Loss, 58. 
Love, 58. 

Man, 59. 
Miracles, 59. 
Miraculous Conception, 
60. 

Mission of Christ, 61. 
Modern History of Uni- 
versalism, 61. 

Natural Depravity, 62. 
Natural Man, 62. 
Never Forgiveness, 62. 
New Birth, 16. 

Omnipotence, 63. 
Omniscience, 63. 
Original Sin, 79. 



Pardon, 63. 
Paternity, Divine, 39. 
Penalty, 64. 
Perdition, 64. 
Perish, 64. 
Pit, Bottomless, 19. 
Pleasure of God, 65. 
Probation, 65. 
Probation, Second, 65. 
Promise of God, 66. 
Propitiation, 66. 
Punishment, 66. 
Punishment, Everlasting, 
37. 

Punishment, Future, 69. 
Purpose of God, 70. 



Ransom, 70. 
Rationalism, 70. 
Reason, 71- 
Reconciliation, 71. 
Redemption, 72. 
Regenerate, 72. 
Renew, 72. 
Repent, 72. 
Repentance, 72. 
Reprobate, 73. 
Restoration, 73. 
Restorationists, 73. 
Restore, 73. 
Resurrection, 74. 
Resurrection of Christ, 75. 
Resurrection of Damna- 
tion, 75. 
Revenge, 75. 
Reward, 76. 

Rich Man and Lazarus, 

76. 

Righteous, 76. 



Salvation, 76. 
Satan, 77. 
Saved, 77. 
Saviour, 77. 
Second Birth, 16. 
Second Coming of Christ, 
24, 78. 



Second Death, 27. 
Shall not find me, 78. 
Sheol, 48. 
Sin, 78. 

Sin against Holy Ghost, 
78. 

Sin, Original, 79. 
Sin unto Death, 79. 
Son of God, 79. 
Soul, Lose, 57. 
Soul, Loss of, 58. 
Spirits in Prison, 79. 
Strait Gate, 80. 
Supernatural, 80. 

Tartarus, 80. 
Temptation, 81. 
Temptation of Christ, 81. 
This World and World to 

Come, 82. 
Tophet, 83. 
Trinity, 83. 



Undying Worm, 84. 
Universal Salvation, 84. 
Universalism, 84. 
Universalis t Profession, 
84. 

Universalists, 84. 
Unpardonable Sin, 85. 
Unquenchable Fire, 85. 



"Vengeance, 86. 
Vicarious Suffering, 86. 



Will of God, 70, 87. 
Winchester Profession, 

87. 
Woe, 87. 
Word, The, 87. 
World, End of, 31. 
World, This, 82. 
World to Come, 82. 
Worms, 88. 
Wrath of God, 88. 
Wrath to Come, 88. 



A POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



Acceptable Year of the 

Lord. — Originally "the year 
of jubilee/ 3 Lev. xxv., a year 
of release from slavery, debt, 
obligation, and of restoration 
of lands to those who had sold 
them. Applied to the Saviour, 
Luke iv. 18, 19. Paul alludes 
to it, 2 Cor. vi. 2. 

Accursed. — Doomed to 
destruction, excommunicated 
from the church, Josh. vi. 17 ; 
Gal. i. 8, 9. [Hanson's "Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained; 5 ' 
Paige's "Commentary;" 
Thayer's "Theology/"'] 

Advocate. — In 1 John ii. 
1, Christ is called man's "Ad- 
vocate." This is because he 
renders friendly service to man, 
as the medium of God's grace. 
It is a gross perversion of 
Christian doctrine to under- 
stand the term to denote an 
attorney whose business it is 



to plead his own merits in 
man's behalf with a vengeful 
God. It is a figurative term 
to describe the labors of Christ 
for man. Parakletos, ren- 
dered advocate, denotes one 
who renders friendly service. 
[Paige's :i Commentary ; " 
Thayer's " Theology ; 53 Han- 
son's " Xew Covenant."] 

J£on, aeons, aeonian. — 
The word rendered " everlast- 
ing," " eternal," " world " 
(often) in the Xew Testament, 
is some form of a ion ; that is, 
" age," " era," " epoch," etc. 
It never denotes, of itself, end- 
less duration. (See "Ever- 
lasting," "Eternal.") It is 
applied, among other things, 
to the Jewish, Christian, and 
other future dispensations. 
" This world" (son), "the 
world to come" (aeon), mean 
the Jewish and Christian dis- 



8 



UNIVERSALIS! 



pensations, and " eternal/ 5 
ff everlasting " (aeonian) mean 
pertaining to those dispensa- 
tions; that is, seon-lasting, or 
pertaining to the seon referred 
to. As " daily " cannot mean 
endless because its limit is 
defined by the noun "day," 
whence it is derived, so eeonian 
cannot mean everlasting, inas- 
much as no aon is without end. 
The worst possible rendering of 
(p.onian is everlasting. Every 
form of the word must denote 
a limited period, unless some 
term is associated with it to 
extend its meaning, as the 
eeonian God. In that case the 
word is qualified by the noun, 
as the word ff great " would be. 
[Hanson's " Aion-Aionios.''] 

Agency, Divine. — (See 
(( Human Agency/ 5 ) Strictly 
speaking, the Divine Original 
is not an agent. All things 
and beings are his agents or 
instruments. His eternal plan 
includes and comprehends all 
events. Prom star to atom, 
from the beginning to the end, 
nothing can occur to defeat 
his purpose or frustrate his 
plan. The freedom of the 



finite will, which he has be- 
stowed on all the moral beings 
he has created, does not de- 
feat the purpose of him who 
" works all things after the 
counsels of his own will." 
His will is free and so is 
man's. God is a free sover- 
eign and man is a free agent. 
Somewhere beyond human ken 
the two wills harmonize. The 
freedom of God and the free- 
dom of man are both truths, 
and both will remain free until 
the finite shall be harmonious 
with the Infinite, and God's 
will shall be everywhere 
obeyed. [Williamson's "Ru- 
diments ; " Brooks's M New- 
Departure."] 

Agency, Human. — (See 
c< Diviue Agency.") Man is 
a moral agent, and therefore 
responsible and accountable, 
and hence justly punishable 
for sin. His moral freedom 
is a fact meradicably written 
on his consciousness. His 
will is finally to be harmoni- 
ous with the will of God, but 
always voluntarily. He is 
free within the orbit of his 
moral responsibility, and re- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



9 



sponsible within the orbit of 
his moral freedom. He can 
always do either right or 
wrong. He is a free agent, 
but not independent. His 
will is circumscribed by the 
Divine. He is God's agent, 
not his instrument. The agent 
is free, the instrument is not. 
The agent is intelligent, re- 
sponsible, rational, moral ; the 
instrument is not. The ma- 
terial universe is God's instru- 
ment, — a machine ; man is the 
free agent of God. [William- 
son's " Rudiments ; " Brook's 
"New Departure;" Lee's 
" Birth from Above ; " Cone's 
" Salvation."] 

Ancient History of Uni- 
versalism. — The documents 
that survive from the early pe- 
riods of the Christian Church 
prove that a belief in universal 
salvation was cherished by the 
immediate successors of the 
apostles. The very first of 
these writings contain nothing 
definite on the subject of hu- 
man destiny, but universal 
salvation was announced very 
soon after the death of the 
apostles. It is now known 



that it was advocated by the 
Basilidians and Carpocratians 
(a. d. 120), the Yalentinians 
(a. d. 130), the Sibylline 
Oracles (a. d. 150), Clemens 
Alexandrinus (a. d. 150-220), 
Origen (a. d. 185-250), Greg- 
ory Thaumaturgus (a. b. 
270), Eusebius (a. d. 324), 
Titus of Bostra (a. d. 360- 
70), Athanasius and Basil 
the Great (a. d. 370), Greg- 
ory Nyssa (a. d. 370), Je- 
rome (a. d. 380-90), Diodorus 
of Tarsus (a. d. 3/8-94), 
and, many others. At the 
time of Origen it was the 
prevailing doctrine, as there 
was but one theological school 
in all Christendom that taught 
endless punishment and one 
that taught the annihilation of 
the wicked, while there were 
four in which universal salva- 
tion was taught. The doctrine 
was not condemned by any 
ancient ecclesiastical council, 
though an attempt was insti- 
gated by the Emperor Justi- 
nian (a. d. 553). Down to 
that date it was entirely " or- 
thodox" to accept and advo- 
cate universal salvation. The 



10 



UNIVERSAL1ST 



doctrine was held unchallenged 
m the earliest years of the 
church after the apostolic era. 
[Ballou's " Ancient History 
of Universalism ; " Beecher's 
" History of the Doctrine of 
Future Retribution."] 

Angel. — The Greek ange- 
los is the original of " angel/' 
also is sometimes "messen- 
ger " in the Bible. It occurs 
one hundred and eighty-three 
times in the New Testament, 
and is applied to good and 
bad spirits , men, armies, fire, 
and even to qualities, and 
other agencies. Any messen- 
ger is an angel. It is applied 
to John, Matt. xi. 10 ; to his 
disciples, Luke vii. 24; to 
Jesus' disciples, Luke ix. 52; 
to the thorn in Paul's flesh, 
2 Cor. xii. 7; to the Hebrew 
spies, James ii. 25 ; etc. Its 
highest meaning is disem- 
bodied, immortal spirits, which 
ultimately all human beings 
shall become (Matt. xxii. 30 ; 
Mark xii. 24, 25 ; Luke xx. 
34-38). The word in the 
Bible must be interpreted by 
its surroundings. ["Univer- 
salist Book of Reference."] 



Anger, — (See " God's 
Anger," "Wrath.") In the 
Scriptures anger is both for- 
bidden (Col. iii. 8 ; Eph. iv. 
31; Eccl. vii. 9; Pro v. xii. 16, 
etc.) and commanded (Eph. iv. 
26), — "Be angry and sin 
not," These seemingly oppo- 
site injunctions are reconciled 
by remembering that, like God, 
men must be angry towards 
that which harms others, and 
not at others. God's anger 
seeks the welfare of his ene- 
mies by destroying their en- 
mity. Man's anger should 
be so aimed at the evil traits 
of his enemies as to transform 
them to friends. [Thayer's 
"Theology;" Hanson's "Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained."] 

Anger, God's. — (See " An- 
ger," "Wrath."). The word 
anger as applied to God de- 
notes his feelings towards that 
which hinders the welfare of 
his moral offspring, the pro- 
gress of his kingdom, and also 
the consequences that follow 
transgression. It is the op- 
position of Divine Love to 
whatever would harm Love's 
object. In a being of infinite 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



11 



love and unchangeable good 
will, literal anger, hatred, 
wrath, is absolutely impos- 
sible. God cannot harm a 
being he loves ; and to say he 
is angry is to use human words 
to describe what is apparent 
to an ignorant mortal, not 
what is real in the heart of 
God. The anger of God is 
often spoken of (Ps. xxi. 9 ; 
Nahum i. 2, 3 ; Eph. v. 6 ; 
John iii. 36) ; bnt it is as 
explicitly declared that he un- 
changeably loves the very be- 
ings he is said to hate (Luke 
vi. 35 ; Matt. v.. 43-48). These 
are not contradictory state- 
ments : they are expressions 
of God's determination to de- 
stroy in his children all that 
interferes with their progress 
and happiness. God's anger 
burns to destroy that which 
harms his children, but not to 
injure them. God is angry 
with man's enemies, not with 
man. t( God's anger, wrath, 
hatred," says Dr. Adam Clarke, 
" may be called a Hebraism for 
his punishments." [Thayer's 
"Theology;" Hanson's " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 



Antichrist. — An opponent 
of Christ or Christianity. In 
the New Testament (1 John ii. 
18 ; 2 John 7 ; Matt. xxiv. 24, 
etc.) it denotes the Gnostic 
heresy, false doctrine, etc. 

Atonement, The. — (See 
"Reconciliation."). Univer- 
salists utterly reject the many 
theories on the subject of the 
Atonement that have so long 
prevailed and disfigured Chris- 
tian creeds. God never re- 
quired, he never needed a 
sacrifice to reconcile him to 
sinners ; for he was never un- 
reconciled. He could not 
accept a substitute for the 
sinner's punishment ; for he 
holds every sinner account- 
able, and will exact the ut- 
termost farthing from each 
transgressor, inasmuch as the 
penalty for every sin is dic- 
tated by infinite love and wis- 
dom, and is the best possible 
thing for the sinner. To re- 
ceive that penalty is essential 
to his highest welfare, to fail 
to inflict it would be a ca- 
lamity to him. Accordingly 
Christ did not offer himself to 
" quench the Father's flaming 



12 



UNIVERSAL1ST 



sword in his own vital blood," 
or to serve in any respect as 
the sinner's substitute. He 
did not live and die to make 
God good ; but because God 
was good he sent him. Ee 
was not the cause, but the 
effect of the Divine Love. 
The unreconciled party was 
man ; and Christ came to show 
man how God had always 
loved him, and through that 
love to win his heart to love 
the Father. That exhibition 
of the Father's affection will 
continue to be displayed until 
all shall be converted to God. 
This is Paul's meaning (2 Cor. 
v. 19), ff God was in Christ, 
reconciling the world unto 
himself." The New Testa- 
ment (Established Version) 
contains the word " atone- 
ment " but once (Rom. v. 11), 
" By whom we have now re- 
ceived the atonement." The 
Revised Version does not con- 
tain the word, but properly 
substitutes cf reconciliation." 
This is the better word. The 
whole subject is explained and 
illustrated in the Prodigal Son 
(Luke xv.), Man is an es- 



tranged sinner. The endless 
and unchangeable love of God 
for him will incessantly be 
exerted in the work of recon- 
ciling him to itself, until it 
shall win his heart. Jesus 
Christ is the medium of pro- 
ducing the at-one-ment, the 
harmony of man with God. 
A single sentence defines the 
theme : God is at work recon- 
ciling his intelligent offspring 
unto himself, and he will ul- 
timately^ win all souls to his 
love and service. [Ballou 
on c: Atonement; " Thayer's 
" Theology."] 

Attributes of God. — 
(See f£ God.") Each Divine 
attribute is a different expres- 
sion of the same essential 
nature. " God is love; " and 
his justice and mercy, instead 
of conflicting with one an- 
other, are in perfect harmony. 
The Psalmist says : " Also un- 
to thee, 0 Lord, belongeth 
mercy; for thou renderest to 
every man according to his 
work" (Ps. lxii. 12), show- 
ing that mercy and justice 
demand the same, are alike. 
The Divine Attributes are co- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



13 



partners, allies ; they abet and 
aid one another ; they are all 
facets of one perfect chrysolite, 
phases of the one perfect char- 
acter. God's justice is Love's 
justice ; his mercy, Love's 
mercy ; his power, wisdom, 
holiness, Love's power, wis- 
dom, holiness. To man, re- 
fracted by the clouds of time, 
the rainbow hues wear differ- 
ent colors ; but the white light 
of the unchanging Sun of Love 
shines always the same from 
the heart of God. The Divine 
attributes are always in com- 
plete and perfect harmony. 
[Austin " On the Attributes ; " 
Thayer's "Theology of Uni- 
versalism."] 

Baptize, Baptism, etc. — 

"Immerse," "immersion," is 
the literal meaning of this 
word, originally a dyer's word: 
to dip so as to change the 
color. But it is believed 
that any form of baptism, 
whether by dipping, sprink- 
ling, or pouring, has the sanc- 
tion of authoritative usage, 
and is legitimate. Universal- 
ists regard the rite as essential 



only to those who deem it 
essential. It is an outward 
sign of an inward reality, is 
merely symbolic, and should 
be observed by those who re- 
gard it as a duty, but is not 
obligatory on others. 

The early Latins called John 
tinctor or dyer. The ancient 
Saxon styled him fullabtere 
or fuller. The word carries 
with it the sense of scouring, 
cleansing, changing the color. 
[Hanson's "New Covenant."] 

Beelzebub or Beelzebul, 
the god of flies. This idol 
was anciently worshipped as 
one having charge of harmful 
insects. Applied to Satan, in 
Matt. xii. 24-27, as prince of 
evil powers. 

Belief is an intellectual 
assent to a conclusion com- 
pelled by the balance of evi- 
dence. A mere assent with- 
out evidence is not belief. 
Men are responsible for their 
beliefs only so far as they 
avail themselves of their op- 
portunities. If they refuse to 
weigh the pros and cons and 
go wrong, they sin ; if they 
are gnided by the light attain- 



14 



UNIVERSALIST 



able, they are without blarue, 
even when they err. There 
is no guilt in a false belief if 
conscientiously reached ; no 
virtue in accepting the truth, 
if it is not obtained by faithful 
efforts. Belief or unbelief in 
this world produces happiness 
or misery here, but produces 
no effect beyond the present 
life except as it results in con- 
duct or misconduct. It is the 
duty of every one to examine 
all available sources of evi- 
dence, and to hold and faith- 
fully promote whatever reli- 
gious belief is acquired by 
honest investigation and sin- 
cere reflection. 

Bible, The. — The Scrip- 
tures contain an inspired 
revelation (see " Winchester 
Profession") of the purpose 
of God and of the duty and 
destiny of man. They are 
not plenarily inspired, but the 
substance of their teachings 
was imparted supernaturally ; 
that is, from spheres above 
the natural. Their conclu- 
sions were not reached as 
men ordinarily arrive at truth, 
by reasoning, reflection, by 



deduction or induction. They 
are the highest source of re- 
ligious truth. They are au- 
thoritative in all matters of 
faith and practice. The real 
meaning of the Bible is the 
Bible. The words of Jesus 
are of first value, all other 
parts of the word are to be 
interpreted by those words. 
[Atwood's " Revelation.' 5 ] 

Bible Proofs of Univer- 
salism. — The foundation of 
the doctrine of universal sal- 
vation is the language of the 
Bible. It is found in the 
character, attributes, and na- 
ture of God as there de- 
scribed, especially in the 
doctrine of the Divine Pater- 
nity (see " God's Fatherhood"), 
in the nature of punishment 
(see "Punishment," "Dis- 
cipline "), in the character and 
life of Christ (see " Saviour"), 
and in the following texts, 
which may be called the prin- 
cipal ones : Gen. iii. 15 in 
connection with Heb. ii. 14, 
15 ; 1 John iii. 8 and Rev. 
xx. 14 ; Gen. xii. 1-3, xxii. 
15-18 with Acts iii. 25, 26; 
Eccl. xii. 7 ; Micah vii. 18 ; 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



15 



Ps. ciiL 8, 9, xxx. 5 ; Isa. 
lvii. 16 ; Lam. iii. 31, 33 ; Ps. 
civ. 8, 9, cvii. 1, cxxxvi., 
lxxii. 6, 8, xxii. 27, lxxxvi. 9, 
cxlv. 8, 9, lxv. 2, xxiii. 1-6 ; 
Isa. xxv. 8, xlv. 22-24, Iv. 

10, 11; Hos. xiii. 11; Matt. i. 
21 and Ps. ii. 8 ; John iii. 35 ; 
Luke ii. 10, iii. 4, 6 ; John i. 
29 ; Matt. v. 44, 45 and Luke 
vi. 27-36 connected with 
Rom. xii. 20, 21 ; Luke xv. 
11-22, with John vi. 37-39 
and x. 14, 16. Christ came 
to save all, Luke xix. 10 ; 
John iv. 34, iii. 17; 1 John 

iv. 14. He labors here and 
hereafter to effect that pur- 
pose, 1 Pet. iii. 18-20, iv. 5, 6. 
He has ample power to ac- 
complish his mission, Matt, 
xviii. 18 ; John xvii. 2 ; Rom. 
xiv. 9 ; Phil. iii. 20, 21 ; John 
iii. 35. He will succeed, Isa. 
liii. 10; John iv. 34; 2 Cor. 

v. 14-21 ; and Col. i. 13-21. 
He will win all souls to him- 
self in willing obedience, Heb. 

11. 9 ; John xii. 31-33, vi. 
44, 45, xvii. 2; Matt. xi. 27; 
John vi. 37-40; Phil. ii. 6-11; 
Rom. v. 12-21; Matt. xxii. 
29-32 ; Luke xx. 34-38 ; 



Mark xii. 24-27 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
20-28, 42-58 ; 1 John iv. 7- 
16; Rom. xiii. 10, v. 6-8; 
John iii. 16, 17 ; and 1 John iv. 
9, 10. It is God's will that all 
shall be saved, 1 Tim. ii. 1-6 ; 
John vi. 37-40. His will is 
to be accomplished, Job. xxiii. 
13 ; Prov. xix. 21 ; Dan. iv. 
35 ; Ps. xc. 3 ; Matt. vi. 10. 
It is his pleasure to save all, 
Rev. iv. 11; Eph. i. 9, 10. 
His pleasure shall be per- 
formed, Isa. xlvi. 10 ; Eph. i. 
9, 10. His purpose is to save 
all, Eph. i. 9-14. His pur- 
pose will be accomplished, 
Isa. xiv. 24-27, xlvi. 10 ; 
2 Tim. i. 9. God's promise 
is to save all, Gen. xix. 3, 
xxii. 18, xxvi. 3, 4 ; xxviii. 14 ; 
Acts iii. 25, 26 ; Gal. iii. 8, 16. 
God will redeem his promise, 
Num. xxiii. 19 ; Rom. iii. 3, 
4 ; 2 Cor. i 20. He has con- 
firmed his promise by an oath, 
Is. xlv. 23; Heb. vi. 16-20; 
1 Tim. iv. 10; Rev. v. 13, 
xxi. 2-4; Rom. viii. 21; Heb. 
ii. 8, 9 ; and many other pas- 
sages, besides multitudes of 
indirect passages, and the gen- 
eral drift and tenor of the 



16 



UNIVERSALIST 



words and spirit of the New 
Testament, which indicate, im- 
ply, and necessitate universal 
salvation. [Hanson's "Bible 
Proofs. 55 ] 

Bible Threatenings. — 
These are all to be interpreted 
by the nature and character 
of God. Love cannot work 
or tolerate final ill to its ob- 
ject, and the fact that "God 
is Love 5 ' illuminates all the 
divine threatenings, and not 
only predisposes but compels 
the mind to harmonize them 
with the essential nature of 
their author. Properly un- 
derstood, they not only do not 
contradict, but they illustrate 
and demonstrate the goodness 
of their author. (See "Pen- 
alty," " Punishment. 55 ) They 
are all the offspring of good 
will to the sinner, and are 
successful agencies in promot- 
ing the chief purpose of God 
in the creation of man, — his 
ultimate welfare. [Hanson's 
" Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained. 55 ] 

Birth, The New; Born 
Again, etc. — (See " Human 
Nature, 55 " Regeneration. 5 ') 



All human beings enter this 
life pure, innocent. " Of such 
(as infant children) is the 
kingdom of God 55 (Luke xviii. 
16). Children before the age 
of accountability need no new 
or second birth. But all who 
have sinned, and therefore all 
who have reached maturity, 
need regeneration, the new or 
second birth, the birth from 
above, which is not a miracu- 
lous or supernatural process, 
but consists in loving God 
and man. "Every one that 
loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God, for God is 
love 55 (1 John iv. 7). When- 
ever the soul turns from 
wrong, from selfishness and 
sin, and begins the divine life 
of love, the new birth has been 
experienced. The divine fiat 
has gone forth : " Doomed to 
be saved. 55 " Ye must be born 
again, 55 John iii. 7. Every 
one must have two births, 
one of the body and one 
of the spirit. [Lee 5 s "Birth 
from Above ; 55 Woodbridge 5 s 
" Christ in the Life. 55 ] 

Blasphemy of the Holy 
Spirit. — This sin consists in 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



17 



ascribing the works of Jesus 
to an evil spirit (Matt. xii. 21). 
" Shall not be forgiven " (Matt, 
xii. 31, 32; Mark iii. 28-30; 
Luke xii. 10) is put in appo- 
sition with " shall be for- 
given. 5 ' " Neither in this 
world {peon) nor the world 
(eeoii) to come " means the 
Jewish and the Christian ages, 
and should be understood as 
teaching that the worst of all 
sins, both under the law and 
under the gospel, is committed 
by one who ascribes good 
deeds to an evil spirit. The 
He vision renders " is guilty of 
an eternal (aoniari) sin" that 
is long enduring. This indi- 
cates the persistency of such 
a bad disposition. No sin is 
literally unpardonable, for "the 
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses 
us from all sin" (1 John i. 
7). The language is a com- 
mon Orientalism for saying 
that one thing shall be sooner 
than another, and not that 
either shall or shall not be. 
(See "Eternal," "This World 
and the World to Come," 
" Never.") [" Universalist 
Book of Reference;" Han- 



son's "Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained."] 

Blood. — (See "Blood of 
Christ.") This word and the 
"blood of the Lamb," "blood 
of Christ," etc., in the Xew 
Testament are always meta- 
phors. The efficacy ascribed to 
the blood of Christ belongs to 
his life, so that to be "saved 
by his life" (Rom. v. 10) and 
" saved by his blood " are sy- 
nonymous sentences. " The 
words," he spake, "they are 
spirit and they are life " (John 
vi. 63). The application of his 
blood means the influence of 
his life. " The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth us from all 
sin" (1 John i. 7) means his 
doctrine, his example, his sac- 
rifice. As he says, "Eor my 
flesh is meat indeed, and my 
blood is drink indeed. He that 
eateth my flesh and drinketh 
my blood dwelleth in me and 
I in him" (John vi. 55, 56). 
That this is not literal is 
shown by what follows : "It 
is the spirit that quickenetk; 
the words that I speak unto 
you, they are spirit and they 
are life." " The blood of the 



18 



UNIVERSALIST 



Lamb " is the life of Christ. 
The figure is drawn from the 
Old Testament (Lev. xvii. 11, 
ix. 22 ; also 1 Pet. i. 19-20 ; 
1 John i. 7). [" TJniversalist 
Book of Reference ; 33 Thayer's 
" Theology."] 

Blood of Christ. — (See 
" Blood.") Ignatius said, 
a. d. 107, " The blood of 
Christ is love or charity." 
And Dean Stanley observes, 
in " Christian Institutions/' 
"not the pain or torture of 
the cross is the blood of the 
life of Christ, — for that was 
alike odious to God and use- 
less to man, — but the love, 
the self-devotion, the gener- 
osity, the magnanimity, the 
forgiveness, the toleration, the 
compassion, of which that blood 
was the expression, and of 
which that life and death were 
the fulfilment." The blood of 
Christ is the life of Christ. 
It is never said " we are saved 
by the death of Christ," but 
that " we are saved by his 
life" (Bom. v. 10). ["TJni- 
versalist Book of Refer- 
ence : " Thayer's " Theol- 
ogy."] 



Body, Animal. — This 
should be the language in 
1 Cor. xv. 44, instead of 
"natural body." The spirit- 
ual body is as natural as the 
psychical body. The " animal 
body" is contrasted with the 
"spiritual body." 

Body, Resurrection of. 
— (See " Spiritual Body.") 
Reason and revelation reject 
the idea of the resurrection of 
the material body. The exact 
particles, the same ultimate 
atoms of matter have been in 
many different human bodies 
at the time those bodies died. 
Used by one and returned to 
the elements, they have again 
and again been taken up and 
rebuilt into vegetable and ani- 
mal forms, and consumed by 
human and other beings, and 
returned to Nature's labora- 
tory to be again and again, 
over and over again, used and 
returned, experiencing disso- 
lution and reconstruction, so 
that the same particles of 
matter have belonged to many 
different human bodies when 
death disintegrated those bod- 
ies and set their constituents 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA 



19 



free. A bodily resurrection 
would find a hundred claim- 
ants for the constituents of 
the same body, each with a 
clear title. The doctrine con- 
tradicts common sense, — and 
it is contrary to the Bible. 
Paul says (1 Cor. xv. 37), 
" That which thou sowest thou 
sowest not the body that shall 
be ; " (4i4i) " It is sown [now 
and here, not shall be in the 
grave] an animal \_psuchikon~], 
(not natural body), it is raised a 
spiritual body; " (50) " Flesh 
and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God, neither doth 
corruption [the animal] inherit 
incorruption." The animal 
body, at its dissolution, re- 
turns to its elemental condi- 
tions, never to be raised from 
death, and at the resurrection 
the spiritual body will alone 
exist. [Hanson's " New Cov- 
enant."] 

Body, Spiritual. — The 
spiritual body is already in 
existence (1 Cor. xv.), "There 
is a natural [or animal (psu- 
chikon)~\ body, and there is a 
spiritual body." (See "Ani- 
mal Body.") The organiza- 



tion that will be the spirit's 
instrument in the immortal 
state, " the spiritual body," 
resides within the animal ; and 
when the latter crumbles away, 
the former will act, as the 
organization of the butterfly 
emerges from that of the cat- 
erpillar. The animal body is 
the clay vesture of the spirit- 
ual, and bears some such rela- 
tion to it as does the clothing 
to the body. The continuity 
of life is uubroken by death, 
but the soul is born at death 
into another condition of be- 
ing. The spiritual body in 
every mortal being is waiting 
its birth into the new life. 
Its organization is perfect. 
" There is a spiritual body." 
It is immortal. 

Bottomless Pit. — Bev. 
xvii. 8. The word should be 
abyss. There is no such term 
in the Bible as "bottomless 
pit" 

Broad and Narrow Way, 
Strait Gate, etc. — The strait 
gate is the entrance into the 
narrow way of obedience to 
the commands of our Lord, as 
Bunyan represents it in "Pil- 



20 



UNIVERSALIST 



grim's Progress." It denotes 
the exacting nature of his re- 
ligion. The broad way is the 
wide road of neglect, in which 
the multitude goes. Dr. A. 
Clarke says, "The strait gate 
is doing to every one as you 
would he should do unto you. 55 
Dr. Abbott, "The spirit of 
real and hearty allegiance to 
Jesus Christ, by which we enter 
into him." [Hanson's " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Brotherhood, Human. — 
As God is the Father of all 
mankind, all human beings are 
brethren, and each owes fra- 
ternal obligations to all. Deny 
the universal paternity, and the 
bonds of brotherhood are shat- 
tered. Admit God's universal 
fatherhood, and the basis is 
laid of morality, philanthropy, 
universal unity, and harmony. 
Universalism insists that God 
is the Father of each as he is 
of any ; and, therefore, that 
every human being is a mem- 
ber of the one family, and is 
under perpetual obligations to 
love each and all, for all are 
links in the chain of universal 
brotherhood. This is the eth- 



ical feature of the fundamental 
fact of Christianity. Father- 
hood demonstrates brother- 
hood. Neglect to recognize 
this is the open secret of all 
" man's inhumanity to man." 
When it shall be fully per- 
ceived and consistenlty prac- 
tised, the kingdoms of this 
world shall be the kingdom 
of Christ, and his will " shall 
be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." [Adams's " Father- 
hood of God ; " Hanson's 
"Prayer of Prayers."] 

Change after Death. 

(See "Future Punishment," 
"Future Life.") Character 
depends on antecedent con- 
duct, and is always deter- 
mined by it; it cannot be 
arbitrarily changed; so that 
on entering the next state of 
existence all human beings 
will be essentially what ante- 
cedent behavior has deter- 
mined. At the same time 
environment exercises a large 
influence in modifying thought 
and life. To lay aside "the 
law of the members," and that 
physical organization out of 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



21 



which sin grows, to have 
obliterated from the organiza- 
tion the soil from which alone 
" tlie works of the flesh 3 5 pro- 
ceed, to be brought face to 
face with spiritual realities, 
must produce great changes 
in the spiritual status. Death 
will couch the film on the 
spiritual vision. Hence the 
Scriptures teacli what reason 
perceives, that Death will pro- 
duce such changes in con- 
dition as must result in 
changed character. Paul says, 
"In the twinkling of an eye 
. . . we shall be changed/ 5 
(1 Cor. xv. 52.) Death itself 
produces no change of charac- 
ter arbitrarily or mechanically ; 
but by removing the old and 
giving an improved environ- 
ment, it renders improved 
character certain. [Hanson's 
" Bible Proofs ; " " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Charity. — This word, as 
we use it, in the sense of alms- 
giving, is not found in the 
New Testament. In 1 Cor. 
xiii. and elsewhere it should 
be love, a more comprehensive 
term. It includes charity. 



The word as used by Paul 
means supreme love to God 
and universal love to mankind. 

Child of Hell. — (See 
"Hell," "Gehenna. 55 ) Liter- 
ally " son of Gehenna." Look- 
ing on Gehenna, and familiar 
with its smoking abominations, 
its filth, and horrors, to call a 
man a " child of Gehenna " was 
to say he was vile and corrupt. 
[Hanson's "Bible Hell."] 

Children, Nature of. — 
(See " Human Nature/ 3 "In- 
fants.") Every child begins 
its existence in a state of 
purity, innocence, sinlessness. 
It has capabilities for holiness 
and for depravity, but is 
neither holy nor depraved. 
It is innocent, like a lamb, 
not holy like an angel. The 
language of Jesus is "Of 
such (as infants) is the king- 
dom of heaven." " Total 
depravity," " native deprav- 
ity, 55 and the like phrases 
are unscriptural, unreason- 
able, false. Every new-born 
babe is an angel in embryo. 
[Hanson's "New Covenant; 55 
" I Jniversalist Book of Refer- 
ence."] 



22 



UN1VERSAL1ST 



Children of God. — By 

nature and by virtue of their 
creation in the image of God, 
all men are his children ; but 
in a special sense they are said 
to be his children when they 
are like him, just as they are 
called children of disobedience, 
children of light, etc. 

Children of the Resur- 
rection. — AH human beings, 
1 Cor. xv. 51, 52 ; Luke 
xx. 35, 36. All are finally to 
become children of God by 
being children of the resur- 
rection. [Hanson's " Bible 
Proofs. 55 ] 

Christ. — (See " Trinity. 55 ) 
There are Universalists who 
are Trinitarians, and regard 
Christ as God, but the de- 
nomination generally is Uni- 
tarian, and considers Jesus 
the Christ as the Sen of God, 
subordinate and inferior to the 
Father. His exact position in 
the scale of being is not de- 
fined. There is a wide lati- 
tude of opinion tolerated. 
There are those who consider 
him as a mere man, great, 
good, but who achieved his 
precepts and his life by the 



exercise of his natural abilities 
and genius. Others ascribe 
to him pre-existence. The 
prevalent belief is, that he was 
supernaturally aided and en- 
dowed, — a miraculous pro- 
duct, and possessing miracu- 
lous powers ; that he obtained 
his truths by direct inspiration 
from God. The denomination, 
therefore, believes in the di- 
vinity of Christ. Opinion is 
divided on the question of his 
miraculous conception ; but his 
birth, life, teachings, resurrec- 
tion, and reappearance visibly 
after his death are held to be 
miraculous by the great mass 
of .Universalists. His teach- 
ings are authoritative, his life 
was perfect, and he is the 
Saviour of universal human- 
ity ; because his teachings and 
example will ultimately be vol- 
untarily accepted and repro- 
duced in every human being. 
He saves no soul by substitut- 
ing himself for the sinner, by 
taking the transgressor's pen- 
alty ; but by the power of his 
example, and the force of his 
religion in the soul. He is 
Lord of all, because allegiance 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



23 



to him is due from all ; and 
Saviour of all, because his 
principles will so commend 
themselves to all as to win 
the willing obedience of all. 
[Crane's " Jesus the Christ ; " 
Atwood's 6S Revelation ; ' ; 
Cone's "Salvation; 5 ' TTood- 
bridge's " Christ in the Life. 35 ] 
Christ's Sake, For. — This 
phraseology, so often used by 
Christian people in prayer, is 
entirely repudiated by Univer- 
salists, and is without warrant. 
It only occurs once in the 
Bible (Eph. iv. 3:2) in the 
Established Version,, and not 
at all in the He vision, — :- ' in 
Christ" having been properly 
substituted. Asking God to 
grant favors e: for Christ's 
sake " is to accuse him of not 
being willing to do for us. of 
his intrinsic goodness, that 
which he will grant on account 
of what Christ has purchased. 
An accurate rendering of the 
Bible gives no warrant for the 
language, and a proper feeling 
towards God should banish the 
phrase from Christian litera- 
ture and the idea from Chris- 
tian theology. God is more 



willing to give his children 
needed blessings than they 
can be anxious to receive. 
'•'For Christ's sake" is un- 
christian language. [Han- 
son's "New Covenant."] 

Christian. — All those who 
accept Christ as an authorita- 
tive teacher, in whatever alti- 
tude of being they may locate 
him or whatever extent to his 
mission they may give, are 
entitled to be called Christian. 
Christians are those who ac- 
cept his claims as they under- 
stand them, and are endeavor- 
ing to be his followers. 

Church. — The word lit- 
erally means assembly, and is 
applied once to a mob in 
Acts xix. 32. Usually it de- 
notes a congregation assem- 
bled for worship. Sometimes 
it refers to all Christian be- 
lievers (Eph. v. 25-27). Com- 
pare this with Titus ii. 11-13 ; 
1 Tim. ii. 6 ; John i. 29. The 
church universal signifies all 
mankind (Eph. i. 22, 23, v. 30). 
The organized Christian church 
is a divinely appointed institu- 
tion for the Christian educa- 
tion of mankind. For an elab- 



24 



UNIVERSALIST 



orate and valuable discussion of 
the functions, ordinances, and 
value of the church from the 
Universalist standpoint, con- 
sult Rugg's " Church " and 
Lee's " Birth from Above." 

Coming of Christ, Sec- 
ond, etc. — The second com- 
ing of Christ was not to be a 
personal, but a spiritual coming 
or presence. It was declared 
by Jesus to be before some of 
those who heard him speak 
should die, in the very genera- 
tion to which he spoke (Matt, 
xxiv. 34 ; Luke xxi. 32 ; Mark 
xiii. 30), when the Jewish 
power and religion fell at the 
destruction of Jerusalem, and 
when the Christian dispensa- 
tion was established. It has, 
therefore, already occurred ; 
and those who are looking for 
his future advent are antici- 
pating not a second but a 
third coming. [ f ( Universalist 
Book of Reference, "] 

Consuming Fire. — (Heb. 
xii. 29) "Our God is a con- 
suming fire." The consuming 
fire of God is the fire of love. 
It is inexorable, and will de- 
stroy everything in opposition 



to itself or the welfare of its 
object. The "orthodox" view 
represents God's consuming 
fire as consuming nothing, 
neither the sinner nor his sin. 
The Universalist view regards 
it as destroying sin and puri- 
fying the sinner. [George 
Macdonald's "Unspoken Ser- 
mons ; " Hanson's " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Conversion, Convert, etc. 
— To turn from one belief and 
mode of life to another, — the 
transformation produced by 
the Christian religion, not 
from a state of nature, but 
from a condition of sinfulness 
to one of goodness. [Lee's 
" Birth from Above."] 

Correction. — (See " Pun- 
ishment.") Same as punish- 
ment, chastening, discipline. 
Job declares, " Happy is the 
man whom God correcteth; 
therefore despise not thou the 
chastening of the Almighty " 
(v. 17). The author of Proverbs 
says : " Whom the Lord lov- 
eth he correcteth, even as a 
father the son in whom he de- 
lighteth"(iii.l2). [Hanson's 
"New Covenant."] 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



25 



Covenant. — The real name 
of Scripture, not " Testament/ 5 
The promise to Noah (Gen. xii. 
2-4) is a covenant ; also the 
law given on Sinai (Deut. iv, 
13). The New Testament is 
the "Better Covenant" (Heb. 
viii. 6, 8). The word means 
agreement, but is applied to 
several things in the Bible. 
Gen. xii. 3 and xxii. 18 is the 
promise to bless all mankind, 
which Paul explains as the gos- 
pel (Gal. hi. 8-17), which is to 
be of universal application. 

Creed, Universalist. — 
(See i( Winchester Profes- 
sion. 5 ') 

Creeds. — As tests of Chris- 
tian character, or rigid form- 
ulas by which to measure and 
control opinion and thought, 
Universalists repudiate creeds. 
They regard them only as con- 
venient statements of average 
sentiment, chiefly valuable as 
bonds of union, platforms de- 
scribing the opinions of those 
who employ them. The Win- 
chester Profession (which see) 
is the Universalist creed in 
this sense only. Some of its 
phraseology, such as "restore" 



(which see), and the utilitarian 
grounds on which obedience 
is based, are not accepted by 
all the denomination; but its 
principal declarations as to the 
character of God, the Lordship 
of Christ, the inspiration of 
the Scriptures, the duty and 
destiny of mankind, etc., are 
held by those who properly 
belong to the denomination. 
The " Profession 55 is the Uni- 
versalist creed ; because it 
states the views of the denom- 
ination, and is the platform on 
which the organization rests. 

Damnation. — (See " Res- 
urrection of Damnation. 55 ) 
This word should always be, 
as in the Revised Version, con- 
demnation, except in Mark hi. 
29, where the original is differ- 
ent, and the word sin or trans- 
gression should be used. It 
denotes the suffering conse- 
quent upon sin. " He that dis- 
believeth shall be condemned 55 
(Mark xvi. 16) is the correct 
reading. The meaning is, the 
self-condemnation of the sin- 
ner (1 Cor. xi. 29 ; Rom. 
xiii. 2, xiv. 23). See also 



26 



UNIVERSALIST 



" Never Forgiveness. 55 [Han- 
son's " Bible Threatenings 
Explained ; 55 " Universalist 
Book of Reference. 55 ] 

Day of Judgment. — (See 
" Retribution, 55 " Judgment/ 5 
" General Judgment. 55 ) This 
phrase sometimes means the 
Christian Dispensation, which 
began with the establishment 
of Christianity in this world, 
and will end when its awards 
shall have been announced 
and experienced and the king- 
dom surrendered to God. The 
Gospel Day, or the entire 
reign of Christ as king and 
judge, is the " day of judg- 
ment. 55 In Matt. xii. 36 the 
article is wanting, and the 
reading should be " a clay 
of judgment 55 or trial. The 
words "day," "throne/ 5 etc., 
are figurative, and not literal 
language. In Matt. x. 15, " 
day of judgment 55 refers to 
the destruction of the Jewish 
state, which was to be more 
intolerable than the destruc- 
tion of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
The day of judgment of those 
cities was when they were de- 
stroyed " by fire from the 



Lord out of heaven." So say 
Hammond, Clarke, Pearce, and 
others. John xii. 31, "Now 
is the judgment of this world/ 5 
teaches that the judgment is 
now progressing. The day of 
judgment of any individual or 
nation is when the awards of 
conduct or misconduct are 
being experienced. The "day 
of judgment " is ante not post 
mortem* [" Universalist Book 
of Reference ; 55 Hanson's " Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained.' 7 ] 

Dead. — ■ Primarily absence 
of natural life ; but in the 
Scriptures, sinfulness, that is, 
moral or spiritual death (John 
v. 25 ; Eph. ii. 1; Bom. viii. 
6, xi. 15). 

Death. — Too much em- 
phasis is often laid on death. 
It is a natural process in the 
progressive life of immortals. 
It is only the laying off of the 
soul's garments of clay, and 
does not destroy or reduce in 
number or ability the soul's 
opportunities for improvement. 
It does not end probation. It 
probably in all cases improves 
the advantages of the spirit 
The holiest and best are handi- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



27 



capped by "the law of the 
members ; " the worst are 
weighted and impeded by the 
animal nature. Released from 
it by death, the freed immor- 
tal will find larger abilities for 
good, and a kindlier atmos- 
phere for growth than earth 
affords. In no instance is it 
a detriment or disadvantage. 
It was not originally the pen- 
alty of sin; was not the un- 
foreseen result of accident. It 
was a part of God's plan, as 
natural and beneficent as life, 
and in the career of man it is 
as much a blessing as birth; 
indeed, it is birth from mor- 
tality to immortality. It is 
but temporary in duration ; for 
in all its forms, — physical, 
moral, spiritual, the (C second 
death," and all the many shapes 
it assumes, — it is to be de- 
stroyed : " the last enemy, 
death, shall be destroyed " 
(1 Cor. xv. 26). [Paige's 
" Commentary ; " Hanson's 
" Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained."] 

Death, Second. — Rev. ii. 
11 ; xx. 6, 14 ; xxi. 8. The 
primary meaning of second 



death in the Scriptures is trie 
second destruction of the Jew- 
ish nation. The first death 
was the captivity. But " by 
accommodation ' ' we may say 
that those who awaken out of 
sin, after having died in tres- 
passes and sins, and then re- 
lapse, have died a second 
death. The language, how- 
ever, literally refers to the 
second vastation of the Jews, 
after their first national death 
which was in the Babylonish 
captivity, and the second when 
Jerusalem was destroyed. But 
it was also applied to those 
who had once been aroused 
from moral death, and again 
died in trespasses and sins. 
There is no propriety in apply- 
ing it to endless torment. 
["Universalist Book of Ref- 
erence ; " Thayer's " Theol- 
ogy-"] 

Demons, Demoniacs. — 

(See " Devil," "Satan.") The 
Jews of our Lord's time, as 
well as other ancients, regarded 
such diseases as insanity, idi- 
otcy, epilepsy, etc., as caused 
by evil spirits, and those thus 
afflicted as possessed by de- 



28 



UXIVERSAL1ST 



tnons. The word devil in 
such cases should be demon 
(see Revised Version), which 
is the word in the original. 
Jesus did not controvert the 
popular opinions, but did as 
skilful physicians now do, — 
acquiesced in the delusions 
of the afflicted. His mission 
was not to teach medical sci- 
ence, but to heal the afflicted. 
[See Farmer on "Demoniacs," 
Lardner, Jahn, etc. Hanson's 
"New Covenant."] 

Destroy Soul and Body 
in Hell. — (See " Hell," 
"Gehenna," "Soul.") The 
word here rendered soul, 
psuche, should be life (Matt, 
x. 28), as it is properly trans- 
lated in the Revised Version. 
Men can kill the body, but the 
life survives. But God has 
greater power than man; he 
is able to destroy the life as 
well as the body in Gehenna. 
So he is able to transform the 
stones of the street into chil- 
dren of Abraham (Matt. iii. 
9) ; but the ability to do either 
does not prove that he will do 
it. God's power is the lesson 
of the passage, and not his 



disposition or purpose. Pear 
not man but God, whose power 
is so great, is the sentiment of 
the passage. 

Destruction. — See "Ever- 
lasting Destruction." [Han- 
son's "Bible Hell" and "New 
Covenant."] 

Devil, Personal. — (See 
" Satan," « Temptation.") The 
words "devil" (diabolos) and 
"Satan" (sat anas), literally ac- 
cuser, adversary, occur thirty 
times — three times in the plural 
— in the New Testament, and 
stand for the inducements that 
arise out of man's lower na- 
ture to draw the higher na- 
ture down; or, man's moral 
enemies and adversaries. Once 
it denotes an idol (1 Cor. x. 
20,21). But the devil and his 
works are to be destroyed 
(1 John iii. 8; Heb. ii. 14). 
[" Universalist Book of Ref- 
erence ; " Hanson's " Bible 
Proofs."] 

Discipline. — (See " Pun- 
ishment.") All God's punish- 
ments are disciplinary; they 
are not only intended to im- 
prove the punished, but are so 
wisely designed as to result in 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



29 



improvement in every instance 
and in all sonls. Hence the 
word rendered punishment in 
Matt. xxv. 46 (kolasin) sig- 
nifies to prune, so that punish- 
ment is equivalent to chastise- 
ment, — in Heb. xii. 7, 8, 11, 
paidia. Chastisement, disci- 
pline, punishment, are mutual 
equivalents. Hence, as Ori- 
gen says (c. Gels. vi. 25), 
even the fire of Gehenna is 
purificatory {basanon hathar- 
sin) . " The original of punish- 
ment/ 5 says Earrar (" Eternal 
Hope/ 5 p. 200), "is a word, 
which, in its sole, proper mean- 
ing, has reference to the cor- 
rection and bettering of Mm 
that endures." Clement of 
Alexandria defines kolasis as 
meriJcai paideiai. The punish- 
ments of God are never vin- 
dictive or even merely vindica- 
tory, but always reformatory. 
He wounds to bless, and strikes 
to heal. [Earrar's "Eternal 
Hope; " Thayer's "Theology; » 
Hanson's " Aion - Aionios ; 55 
Paige's "Commentary; " Han- 
son's "New Covenant."] 

Divinity of Christ. — (See 
"Jesus/' "Emmanuel/ 5 "'Mir- 



aculous Conception. 55 ) Christ 
is not God, but he is divine. 
He is not Deity, but he is 
a supernatural being. Some 
Universalists, however, — a 
small number, — regard him 
as a perfectly natural being ; 
a mere man, though a per- 
fect one, who became what 
he was through the legitimate 
exercise of his human faculty, 
which he had in common with 
other men. Others believe in 
his actual pre-existence, and 
that he came to earth from 
some higher sphere in which 
he had a conscious existence, 
and that he brought from that 
realm powers and abilities 
above those possessed by man, 
so that his entire life was far 
above the possibilities of un- 
aided human nature. Most 
Universalists regard him as a 
perfect human being, who was 
created by a supernatural pro- 
cess and endowed with super- 
natural powers, and though 
in all respects human, he was 
in spirit and character divine ; 
that he became a perfect ex- 
ample to men, who can copy 
and acquire his moral perfec- 



30 



UNIVERSALIST 



tions, after having been shown 
the way ; that he is, there- 
fore, a miraculously created 
and endowed Example, Teach- 
er, and Leader, who will ul- 
timately be the Saviour of 
the world. [Crane's " Jesus 
the Christ ; " TToodbridge's 
" Christ in the Life ; " Paige's 
" Commentary ; " Atwood's 
"Revelation;" Lee's "Birth 
from Above ; " Cone's " Sal- 
vation.'*] 

Easter. — Once used in the 
New Testament incorrectly for 
Passover (Acts xii. -i). The 
word is from Eostre, a Saxon 
goddess. Formerly the resur- 
rection of Christ was com- 
memorated upon the day of 
the Jewish Passover, but the 
council of Nice ordered that 
it be kept in all Christian 
churches on Sunday. The 
Passover came on the four- 
teenth day of the first vernal 
full moon; Easter comes the 
next Sabbath after that full 
moon. 

Election, Elect, etc. — 

Certain persons are appointed, 
or by peculiar fitness come, to 



discharge special offices, pos- 
sess certain privileges, or at- 
tain great excellence of char- 
acter, and are thus called 
"'elect." -2 John i. 1, "the 
elect lady." The Jews were 
elected or chosen as agents of 
Providence ; and other nations 
and persons fulfil certain pur- 
poses and objects, and are for 
that reason called elect. But 
all these are subordinate to 
the one end to which ail are 
elected, — the final favor and 
service of God. Seven classes 
are mentioned in the Scrip- 
tures as elect : 1. Christ, Isa. 
xlii. 1; IPet.ii. 6. 2 Angels, 
1 Tim. v. 21 ; Heb. i. 14. 3. 
The patriarchs, Rom. ix. 27. 

4. The Jews, Deut. vii. 6. 7. 

5. The prophets, Titus i. 1. 

6. The apostles, Eph. i. 4. 7. 
The Gentiles and all man- 
kind, 1 Pet. i. 1 ; lThess.i.4. 

Emmanuel. — (See " Di- 
vinity of Christ," "Jesus.") 
This word means " God with 
us ; " but this does not indi- 
cate that Christ was God. He 
was godlike, divine, but not 
Deity. Daniel signifies " God 
my Lord ; " Elijah, " God the 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



31 



Lord ; 55 Ithiel, " God with 
me ; " but the men who bore 
those names were never sup- 
posed on that account or any 
other to be Deity. Univer- 
salists generally accept the 
divinity of Christ, but not 
his Deity. [Crane's " Jesus 
the Christ ; 55 Woodbridge's 
" Christ in the Life ; " Atwood's 
" Revelation. 55 ] 

End of the World. — 
This language is a mis-trans- 
lation. The end of the world 
is not taught in the Bible. 
The Greek for world is kosmos, 
and that is never said to be 
destined to come to an end. 
The end of the aion is spoken 
of, and the translators of the 
Bible have erroneously given 
" world 55 and " eternity " as 
its English equivalent. It 
never means either, but always 
age or epoch. It is found 
both in the singular and plural. 
Sometimes it means the Jewish, 
and sometimes the Christian 
age, and sometimes past or 
future ages. In Matt. xxiv. 3. 
our Lord prophesies the end 
of the Jewish age, and gives 
the signs that were to precede 



it, which he said would occur 
before the death of some of 
his auditors (xxiv. 6, 16, 33, 
U). Campbell, Clarke, Wake- 
field, Newton, and all good 
critics render the words by 
the phraseology (( conclusion 
of the age," ^consummation 
of the clisp elation." The 
language is applied to the 
Jewish age more than thirty 
times in such passages as 
these : 1 Cor. x. 11, " The ends 
of the world are come ; 55 Heb, 
ix. 26, ; 'Xow once in the end 
of the world (age) hath he 
appeared to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of himself. 5 ' The 
correct rendering is (( ends of 
the age," "end of the age. 55 
The Revised Version gives the 
true reading by printing " age 55 
in the margin, as it should have 
clone in the text. In every 
instance in the Scriptures in 
which the beginning or end of 
the aion is spoken of, it should 
be age. And the word never 
means eternity or world, but 
always a period of time, longer 
or shorter ; as age, epoch, dis- 
pensation, or some equivalent 
term, the duration of which 



32 



UNIVERSALIST 



is to be determined by the 
context. There is no evidence 
either in nature or revelation 
that the material world will 
ever end. [" Universalist 
Book of Reference ; " Han- 
son's "Aion-xiionios;" Tabor's 
"End of the World."] 

Eternal. — (See " Ever- 
lasting.") 

Eternal Fire. — (See 
" Everlasting" and "Fire" in 
this volume.) Eire is an 
emblem of purification, and 
consumes to purify. " Eter- 
nal/' from awn, an age, de- 
notes indefinite duration, the 
extent to be determined by 
the subject treated. An eter- 
nal fire is one that burns, 
longer or shorter, until it ac- 
complishes the purpose for 
which it was kindled. [Han- 
son's " Aion-Aionios " and 
" Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained."] 

Eternal Judgment. — 
(See "Judgment," "Day of 
Judgment.") Literally (Eonian 
judgment, or the judgment 
pertaining to the age; that 
is, the Christian dispensation 
(Heb. vi. 2). Its duration is 



not intimated in the words 
erroneously rendered eternal 
judgment. [Hanson's "Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Eternal Life, Everlast- 
ing Life. — (See " Immortal 
Life.") This phrase does not 
mean endless existence or im- 
mortal blessedness in heaven. 
It denotes that condition of 
the soul that results from 
" duties well performed and 
days well spent." (John hi. 
36*, vi. 47, 54) "He that 
believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life." It is pres- 
ent blessing, regardless of its 
duration. (John xvii. 3) 
" This is life eternal, that they 
might know thee the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom thou hast sent." It is 
not heaven hereafter, but the 
reward of goodness in this life. 
It may be possessed and for- 
feitedf (Heb. vi. 4) "It is 
impossible for those who were 
once enlightened, and have 
tasted of the heavenly gift, 
and were made partakers of 
the Holy Ghost, and the pow- 
ers of the world to come, if 
they shall fall away, to renew 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



33 



thera again unto repentance ; " 
that is, not literally impossible, 
but difficult, for " all things 
are possible with God (Mark 
x. 27; Matt. xix. 26). Eut 
the life in question may be 
had and lost ; and, therefore, 
the words do not signify end- 
less existence. Jesus does not 
say, " He that believes in this 
world shall have endless happi- 
ness in heaven," but " shall 
have ceonian life 33 here ; that 
is, the life of his gospel and 
reign. Its durable character, 
and not its mere duration is 
meant. The soul's eternal 
happiness is described in the 
New Testament in other terms. 
[Hanson's " Aion-Aionios."] 

Evangelical. — (See " Gos- 
pel.") The Greek euaggelion, 
good news, is the root and 
parent of this word. An 
evangelical Christian, there- 
fore, is one who proclaims an 
evangel, glad tidings ; and the 
more cheerful and joy-inspir- 
ing the form of faith, the better 
it is entitled to be called evan- 
gelical. A greater misnomer 
can scarcely be imagined than 
to style a system of religion 



that is full of gloom and horror 
evangelical. Only good tid- 
ings can be entitled to this 
description ; and Universalists 
not only consider themselves 
strictly evangelical, but the 
most evangelical of Christians. 

The word is derived from 
eti) good, and aggelion, news 
or message. Gospel is the 
Saxon rendering. Those who 
proclaim the best tidings, the 
most joyful news, are best en- 
titled to the name. 

Everlasting. — (See "Ev- 
erlasting Punishment," "Eter- 
nal Life," "End of the World," 
etc.) The words " everlast- 
ing," " eternal," " forever," 
and all the derivatives and 
reduplications of the word 
describing duration have the 
same meaning. They are 
translations of aion and aion- 
ios, which have the force of 
indefinite duration, to be de- 
termined by the subject with 
which they are associated. 
Aion means age, aionios age- 
lasting. The adjective cannot 
mean more than the noun. 
As "long" is to length, or 
" beautiful" to beauty, so is 



34 



UNI VERS AL1ST 



aionios to aion. The noun 
signifies limited, indefinite du- 
ration.; and the adjective, of 
itself, can mean no more. 
This is the usage in sacred 
and profane literature, in the 
Bible, and out of it. Some- 
times, however, the word may 
have a figurative meaning, de- 
rived from the subject with 
which it is associated, from 
which it obtains a meaning it 
does not intrinsically possess. 
As the word Qi great," applied 
to fly, horse, and mountain, 
signifies different degrees of 
size, and all finite ; but infinite 
when we say ff the great God 
so " everlasting,' 5 "eternal, 5 ' 
when applied to the priesthood 
of Aaron, the hills, and other 
temporal subjects, signify lim- 
ited duration; but when ap- 
plied to God acquire from that 
connection a meaning not in 
the words. The eternal God 
denotes the existence of Deity 
without beginning of days or 
end of years ; not because 
ff eternal," but because the 
word God possesses that mean- 
ing. This is found in the 
classic Greek, where the noun 



and the adjective are uniformly 
used in the sense of limited 
duration ; and the same usage 
prevails throughout the Bible. 
Canaan was an everlasting 
possession (Gen. xvii. 8, xlviii. 
4:), the hills are everlasting 
(Gen. xlix. 26), the priest- 
hood of Aaron was everlasting 
(Num. xxv. 13), the Jewish 
law was everlasting (Lev. xvi. 
31), the everlasting hills did 
bow (Rev. Yer., Hab. hi. 6). 
Gehazi's leprosy (2 Kings v. 
27). the servitude of bond- 
men (Deut. xv. 17 ; Lev. xxv. 
46), Abraham's possession of 
his land (Gen. xiii. 15), the 
existence of Jerusalem (Jer. 
xvii. 25, xxxi. 40 ; Ps. xlviii. 
S), Jonah's stay in the fish 
(Jon. ii. 6), Idurnea's desola- 
tion (Isa. xxxiv. 10), and the 
Jews' possession of Canaan 
(Jer. vii. 7) were all to be 
everlasting, eternal. And yet, 
the Jews have lost their pos- 
session, the priesthood of Aa- 
ron has ceased, the Mosaic 
system has been abrogated, 
the house of David no longer 
possesses the throne, the Jew- 
ish temple is destroyed, Je- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



35 



rusalem lias lost its eternal 
glory, the servants are freed 
from a bondage that was to 
last forever, Gehazi's leprosy 
is cured, the smoke of Idumea 
no longer rises, the tooth of 
time will one day gnaw the 
last hill and mountain to dust, 
Jonah's everlasting imprison- 
ment in the fish lasted but 
three days. These and other 
everlasting and eternal things 
have ended or will end, so 
that the usage of the word 
proves that its meaning is 
limited duration. When God 
is called eternal, everlasting, 
it carries the sense of unlimited 
duration, not because the ad- 
jective contains that meaning, 
but because the noun imparts 
it. In the Xew Testament 
the meaning is the same. The 
gospel is " everlasting " (Rev. 
xiv. 6) ; and yet the good news 
will one day no longer be 
news, when faith shall become 
fruition. Christ's kingdom is 
an " everlasting " one, will 
endure " forever," etc. (Heb. 

vi. 20; 2 Pet. i. 11; Heb. 

vii. 17, 21 ; Rev. xi. 15, etc.) ; 
and yet the kingdom of Christ, 



I of heaven, will cease when it 

! " shall be delivered up to God 
the Tather, and God becomes 

I all in all 55 (1 Cor. xv. 21, 25). 

I The accurate definition of the 
word in all its forms is 
undoubtedly given by Mac- 
Knight, Scotch Presbyterian : 
"These words being ambigu- 
ous, are always to be under- 
stood according to the nature 
and circumstances to which 
they are applied. The use of 
these terms, f forever/ 'ever- 
lasting, 5 and c eternal, 5 shows 
that they who understand these 
words in a limited sense, when 
applied to punishment, put 
no forced interpretation upon 
them. 55 Schleusner says, "Du- 
ration determined by the sub- 
ject to which it is applied. 55 
Professor Blackie : " It does 
not require any very profound 
scholarship to know that the 
word aionios does not signify 
eternity absolutely and meta- 
physically, but only popularly; 
as when we say that a man is 
an eternal fool, meaning by that 
he is a very great fool. 55 Canon 
Earrar : f£ There is no author- 
ity whatever for renderiDg it 



36 



UNI VERS ALI ST 



{aionios) everlasting." Charles 
Kingsley: "The word never 
is used in Scripture anywhere 
in the sense of endlessness. 
It always meant, in Scripture 
and out of it, a period of time." 
The meaning of the word in 
all its forms is indefinite dura- 
tion. When connected with 
punishment, it means longer 
or shorter, but always limited 
duration. "When the nature 
of punishment and the good- 
ness of God are considered, it 
would be more absurd to con- 
sider punishment endless be- 
cause called everlasting, than 
to say that "long" applied to 
a river, or "great " applied to 
a fly, means infinite. [Han- 
son's " Aion-Aionios," — where 
this word is "exhaustively" 
treated, according to the lan- 
guage of Canon Farrar, in 
" Mercy and Judgment."] 

Everlasting Destruction. 
—(See "Loss," "'Perdition.") 
This language is equivalent 
to great desolation, vastation. 
The word rendered destruc- 
tion (olethros) occurs in but 
four places in the New Testa- 
ment : 1 Cor. v. 5 ; 1 Thess. 



v. 3; 2 Thess. i. 9; 1 Tim. 

vi. 9. The passage in 1 Cor. 
v. 5 explains the word: "De- 
liver such a one unto Satan 
for the destruction of the flesh, 
that the spirit may be saved 
in the day of the Lord Jesus." 
The purpose of the destruction 
was beneficent, — the salvation 
of the soul. See "Everlast- 
ing." 

The word is sometimes 
rendered from apolia, which 
is also translated " waste : " 
(Mark xiv. 4) " Why was this 
waste of the ointment ? " also 
"perdition," (John xvii. 12) 
" son of perdition ; " also 
"perish," (Acts viii. 20) "Thy 
money perish with thee." 
"When rendered destruction, 
as in Rom. ix. 22, it denotes 
the same as olethros. This 
word is also rendered " die " 
(Acts xxv. 16), and " damna- 
ble " (2 Pet. ii. 1), also "per- 
nicious" (2 Pet. ii. 2). It is 
found in the New Testament 
twenty times. 

The word destruction is 
rendered twice from kathair- 
esis (2 Cor. x. 8 and xiii. 10), 
and once (Rom. iii. 16) from 



POCKET CJ 



iCLOPJELIA. 



37 



sunt ri mm a. The word never 
means unending suffering. It 
is synonymous with waste, 
loss, perish, etc. [" Univer- 
salist Book of Reference ; " 
Hanson's " Aion-Aionios " 
and " Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained.''] 

Everlasting Punishment. ! 
— (See " Everlasting " and 
"Punishment"), in vrhich it 
is shown that the word (i ever- 
lasting " denotes limited dura- 
tion and punishment, remedial 
suffering. The phrase only 
occurs twice in the Bible : 
Dan. xii. 2 and Matt. xxv. 
46. In the former passage, it 
is expressly applied to the 
temporal affairs of Jerusalem. 
All forms of the word rendered 
everlasting are applied to the 
punishment of the wicked in 
the New Testament only four- 
teen times, in thirteen passages, 
on ten occasions : Matt. xii. 
32 ; Mark iii. 29 ; 2 Pet. ii. 
17; Jude 13; Rev. xiv. 11, 
xix. 3, xx. 10 ; Matt, xviii. 8, 
xxv. 41, 46; 2 Thess. i. 9; 
Jude 7; Heb. vi. 2. If these 
passages had all been cor- 
rectly translated, their mean- 



ing would be apparent. TTe 
should then read, "It shall 
not be forgiven in that aeon, 
or that to come ; " "in danger 
of aeonian sin;" "blackness 
of darkness for an aeon;" 
"aeonian tire;" "the smoke 
of their torment ascends for 
aons of (sons/ 3 or ages of ages ; 
" her smoke ascends for aeons 
of aeons ; 93 " tormented day 
and night aeons of aeons;" 
li the judgment of the aeon ; 93 
"the penalty of aeonian fire ; " 
" aeonian destruction;" "aeon- 
ian fire ; " " aeonian chastise- 
ment/"' The meaning is, the 
fire, the judgment, the chas- 
tisement, etc., of the aeon, age, 
or dispensation referred to in 
the context. JEonian punish- 
ment or life terminates with the 
aeon or age of which it is a part, 
and all aeonian things will be 
followed by the indissoluble life 
(akatalutos zoe), Heb. vii. 16, 
that God may be all in all. 
[Hanson's " Aion-Aionios.''"] 
Note. — The Revised Version 
omits eis aiona, rendered "for- 
ever/' in 2 Pet. ii. 17. 

Evil. — (See f ''Sin.") Evil is 
relative, not absolute; limited, 



38 



UNIVERSALIST 



not endless ; finite, not infinite. 
If man is its author, it must 
be limited ; as an effect cannot 
transcend its cause : and if 
God is its author, it cannot be 
absolute; as there can be noth- 
ing in an effect not contained 
in its cause: and as God is 
infinitely good, he cannot be 
the author of infinite evil. 
Evil is like the staging of a 
building, — essential to the pro- 
gress of the edifice, but having 
no part in the completed work. 
It is necessary to imperfection. 
It is an accompaniment of de- 
velopment, progress. It is the 
shadow of good. It is not 
real, but only apparent, and 
will finally be " overcome of 
good" when "infinite perfec- 
tion shall close the scene.' 5 
[Thayer's " Theology of Uni- 
versalism. 55 ] 

Expiation. — (See " Pro- 
pitiation.") It signifies atone- 
ment, reconciliation. 

Faith is composed of be- 
lief and confidence. It is trust 
in what reason has rendered 
probable. Christian faith is 
trust in the teachings of Christ. 



Salvation by faith is the happi- 
ness acquired by belief in fu- 
ture blessings. Faith creates 
no future reality; it reveals 
the future, and enables the be- 
liever to rejoice in its reflected 
light. It discounts the future. 
It brings blessings to come, 
near. Belief in Christ or his 
atonement, in this life, does not 
purchase salvation in the im- 
mortal world; but it renders 
the believer happy, because he 
perceives the future. " God is 
the Saviour of all men," abso- 
lutely, but "especially of those 
that believe," because the lat- 
ter anticipate that of which 
others remain ignorant (Heb. 
xi. 1, 2, 8, 9). 

Fall of Man. — (See "Hu- 
man Nature.") The account 
of the origin of sin in the 
human family, recorded in 
Genesis, does not teach any 
form of fall. The record is 
an allegory, teaching that the 
moral sense in man was grad- 
ually developed, and that the 
act of transgression caused a 
rise rather than a fall. Be- 
fore transgression man did not 
possess even natural modesty 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



39 



(Gen. iii. 7) ; and after his sin 
it is related that he had as- 
cended : (Gen. iii. 22) "And 
the Lord God said, Behold^ 
the man is become as one of 
us, to know good and evil. 55 
He began in Eden that career 
of progressive development 
that will carry him from a 
condition of characterless in- 
nocence to holiness. He has 
steadily gained from his begin- 
ning till now, and will go on 
forever. " To-day is better 
than yesterday, and to-morrow 
will be better than to-day. 55 
As an individual he often fails, 
but always to rise again, un- 
der the tuition of his infinite 
Teacher and Father. [Man- 
ley's <£ Commentary on the 
Old Testament. 55 ] 

Fatherhood of God. — 
The divine paternity, universal 
and inalienable, is the central 
truth of the Christian religion. 
God created all men in his 
own image, originally (Gen. i. 
26, 27) ; and so far from hav- 
ing lost that image by the 
so-called " fall, 55 man was still 
made in the same similitude 
eighteen centuries ago (James 



iii. 9) . He is called the child 
of the devil, of darkness, 
of sin, of light, when he re- 
sembles the qualities for which 
he is thus styled, but he re- 
mains God's child. His he- 
redity is from God. When he 
realizes his relationship he be- 
comes characteristically, in a 
new sense, the child of God 
by adoption ; but he is no 
more the object of the divine 
affection and solicitude than 
before. He ignores his son- 
ship and disregards the duties 
it involves when he is prodigal 
and sinful, but he does not 
destroy the relationship. In 
the deepest degradation he 
can still say " My Father ! 55 
and the Parent sees him in 
the unalterable relation to him- 
self in which he created him, 
and calls to him, "My son, 
give me thy heart. 55 . (See Luke 
xv. 11-32.) This call will be 
eternally heard, in all the vicis- 
situdes of human existence ; 
and the duties and relations 
on which that call rests will 
exist until the family becomes 
holy and happy. God is the 
Father of every human spirit ; 



40 



UNIVERSALIS! 



he will always remain the Pa- 
rent of each and all; he will 
forever exercise all the quali- 
ties that relationship implies ; 
and the love displayed in God's 
dealings with his family will 
finally win a corresponding 
love, resulting in universal 
obedience. An Ohio Baptist 
journal (April 6, 1881), the 
" Journal and Messenger," 
truthfully said: "If God is 
the Father of all men, Uni- 
versalism can sustain itself 
against the world. . . . Be- 
yond a peradventure every 
soul will finally be saved." 
God is a universal Father, and 
that fact is the guaranty and 
warranty of universal salva- 
tion. [Adams's "Fatherhood 
of God;" Hanson's "Prayer 
of Prayers."] 

Fear. — A proper incentive 
but a low motive to action. 
Often it means reverence in- 
stead of slavish terror (Prov. 
viii. 13). Perfect love in 
the heart leaves no place for 
the " fear that hath torment." 
" He that fears," that is, is 
afraid, "is not made perfect in 
love" (1 Johniv. 16-18). 



Fire. — (See " Consuming 
Fire.") An emblem of divine 
judgment. It destroys what 
is hurtful or useless, but puri- 
fies all that is of value. Ori- 
gen first argued that fire is 
purifying (katharsin). The 
word is used in Scripture in 
both a literal and a figurative 
sense. The fire in Zion (Isa. 
xxxi. 9) denotes figuratively 
the awfulness of the tribula- 
tion experienced by the Jews 
(Ezek. xxii. 18-22), but the 
"fire and brimstone " of Sodom 
is a literal use of the word. 
There are other uses ; as, truth 
is meant, in Jer. xxiii. 29 ; 
God's all-prevailing love, Heb. 
xii. 29 ; the power of kindness 
to consume enmity; and the 
purifying effect of sufferings, — 
" to salt with fire " (Mark ix. 
49). [" Universalist Book of 
Reference;" Hanson's "Bible 
Threatenings Explained.''] 

Fire and Brimstone. — 
(See " Fire," " Consuming 
Fire.") In the Old Testa- 
ment, fire and brimstone is 
always an emblem of earthly 
judgments. (Job xviii. 15) 
" Brimstone shall be scattered 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



41 



upon his habit ation." (Ps. xi. 
6) " Upon the wicked he shall 
rain snares, fire and brim- 
stone, and a horrible tempest." 
(Isa. xxxiv. 9, 10) "And the 
streams thereof (Idumea) shall 
be turned into pitch, and the 
dust thereof into brimstone, 
and the land thereof shall be- 
come burning pitch." In Rev- 
elation the coming woes of 
Jerusalem are described (xix. 
20) under the same emblems. 
It was shortly to experience 
these calamities. (See Isa. 
xxxiv.) It is to be during 
"day and night," "on earth," 
etc. It never relates to after 
death judgments, but always 
to occurrences on earth. [Han- 
son's "Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained."] 

Fire, Consuming. — The 
apostle (Heb. xii. 29) speaks 
of God as a " consuming fire." 
By this he means that his na- 
ture, love, will destroy what- 
ever is hostile to it, — sin, evil, 
error, all that is adverse to the 
welfare of his children. One 
view of the Divine anger rep- 
resents it as not only hostile 
to the welfare of its object, 



but as raging impotently. If 
so, it cannot be called " a 
consuming fire," for it con- 
sumes nothing. It does not 
consume sin, but perpetuates 
it, that it may torment its vic- 
tim. It does not consume the 
sinner, but keeps him alive 
that it may torment him for- 
ever ; " burning continually, 
yet unconsumed." It con- 
sumes nothing. But as " God 
is Love" (1 John iv. 8) and 
"a consuming fire," it follows 
that sin, error, suffering, all 
that is its fuel will be de- 
stroyed by it, and the souls 
of men, forever precious in 
God's sight, will be purified and 
saved " so as by fire " (I Cor. 
iii. 15). ["Unspoken Ser- 
mons," by George Macdonald, 
and Hanson's "Bible Threat- 
enings Explained."] 

Fire, Lake of. — An em- 
blem of severe calamity, judg- 
ment, discipline (Rev. xxi. 8), 
sometimes destruction (Rev. 
xx. 13, 14). This is the first 
instance of its use in the New 
Testament. It originated in 
the destruction of Sodom and 
Gomorrah (Gen. xix. 24). The 



42 



UNIVERSALIST 



destruction of Jerusalem (see 
Isa. xxxiv. 10) is referred to 
by the "lake of fire." [Han- 
son's " Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained ; " " Universalist Book 
of Reference."] 

Forever and Ever, etc. 
— (See " Everlasting " and 
"Eternal.") This phrase is 
rendered from the Greek aion, 
meaning aeon, or age; plural 
ages or aeons, and ages of ages 
or aeons of aeons. Eternal du- 
ration is not expressed or im- 
plied in any form of the word. 
All the lexicons agree that aion 
means age ; and, therefore, all 
forms of the word must sig- 
nify limited duration, inasmuch 
as no number of periods of 
limited duration can make eter- 
nity. Charles Kingsley says : 
" It always meant, both in 
Scripture and out, a period of 
time ; else how could it have 
a plural? How could you 
talk of the aeons, and aeons of 
# aeons, as the Scripture does ? " 

Uniform classic usage agrees 
with the Bible, in giving the 
word the meaning of finite 
duration. The feast of un- 
leavened bread was to be ob- 



served forever ; and the word 
is applied to the host of 
heaven, to a writing, to the 
smoke of Idumea, to the time 
the Jews were to dwell in 
Judea, to the duration of 
man's earthly existence, to 
the stones set up as a me- 
morial in Jordan, — and yet 
all these have ended or shall 
end. Dr. Beecher says, To 
give the words the meaning of 
endless duration "fills the Old 
Testament with contradictions, 
for it would make it declare 
the absolute eternity of sys- 
tems which it often and em- 
phatically declares to be tem- 
porary." Take the literal of 
Ex. xv. 18, " The Lord shall 
reign from aeon to aeon, and 
beyond all the aeons." Call 
aion eternity, and we make 
the Bible talk nonsense; but 
give the correct word aeon, or 
age, and all is consistent. So 
Daniel ii. 4, " Through the 
aeons and beyond them all." 
Bead ages and the sense is 
perfect; but substitute eter- 
nities, and we pervert the 
Scripture. Jonah was in hell 
forever (ii. 6), he declared, 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



43 



after he had been in the fish 
three days. It is just as ac- 
curate to say that he was 
there for a literal eternity, as 
to say that eternal duration is 
meant in Rev. xx. 10, " the 
smoke ascends forever and 
ever/ 5 literally ages of ages. 
All forms of the language de- 
note an age or ages, long but 
limited duration. That this is 
correct is shown by the Greek 
fathers, who were Universal- 
ists. Origen frequently de- 
scribed future punishment as 
ceoman, but he taught univer- 
sal salvation beyond it. Uni- 
versalists believe in the literal 
rendering of the terms trans- 
lated forever, etc. ; but teach 
that they never of themselves 
mean endless duration. [Han- 
son's " Aion-Aionios."] 

Forgiveness. — Punish- 
ment, adequate and just, being 
absolutely certain, is never for- 
given. Forgiveness relates to 
sin, transgression, never to 
punishment. Jesus was an- 
nounced as one who should 
"save his people from their 
sins " (Matt. i. 21), not from 
punishment. After the just 



consequences of sin have been 
experienced, always equally 
just and merciful, pardon re- 
stores the sinner to the moral 
status he occupied previous to 
siuning. " Thou wast a God 
that forgavest them, though 
thou tookest vengeance of 
their inventions " (Ps. xcix. 
8). " Her iniquity is par- 
doned, for she hath received 
of the Lord's hand double for 
all her sins" (Isa. xl. 2). 
The Christian prays, "Eorgive 
us our debts " (Matt. vi. 12), 
that is, transgressions ; never 
" Forgive the punishment mer- 
ited." God forgives iniquity, 
transgression, and sin, but by 
no means clears the guilty 
(Ex. xxxiv. 7). ["Latest 
Word of Universalism."] 

Furnace of Fire. — (See 
"Eire," "Eternal Eire," "Ge- 
henna.") This phrase is often 
used in the Bible. It had 
been the custom in the Old 
Testament to call God's judg- 
ment a "furnace of fire." In 
Isa. xxxi 9, " Whose fire is 
in Zion, and his furnace in 
Jerusalem." Isa. xlviii. 10, 
" The furnace of affliction." 



44 



UNIVERSALIST 



In Deut. iv. 20 and 1 Kings 
viii. 51, Egypt is called an 
" iron furnace." So in Ezek. 
xxii. 18-21, the house of 
Israel is called " brass, tin, 
iron, lead/ 5 to be melted in 
God's "fiery furnace." Our 
Lord had this usage in mind ; 
and Gehenna fire, etc., is used 
by him to denote the approach- 
ing judgments on Judea and 
Jerusalem. fMatt. xiii. 50) 
" Shall cast thee into the fur- 
nace of fire; there shall be 
wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
This was literally fulfilled at 
his second comiug at the de- 
struction of Jerusalem, when 
the nation was overwhelmed. 
Wherever this language is 
found in the New Testament, 
it refers to the woes com- 
ing on our Lord's country 
and race. [Hanson's " Bible 
Threateniugs Explained ; " 
" Universalist Book of Ref- 
erence ; " and Paige's <( Com- 
mentary."] 

Future Life. — (See "Res- 
urrection.") The life of man 
is continuous. It is not even 
interrupted by the grave, or 
what we call " death." Death 



is simply sloughing the mate- 
rial body; and when the im- 
mortal part has divorced its 
material companion, the spirit 
continues its career, minus 
" the law of the members." 
Some Universalist s hold that 
the future life will not be af- 
fected by past conduct ; others 
teach that there will be posi- 
tive punishment (see e: Future 
Punishment ") : but the pre- 
vailing view is that the conse- 
quences of the life on earth 
will, more or less, affect the 
beginnings of the life immor- 
tal ; that the soul will begin 
the future in that condition, 
and with that character, with 
which it leaves earth. Some 
teach that there will be post- 
mortem sin and punishment; 
but the prevalent view is, that 
while the consequences of the 
earth-life will decide the be- 
ginning of the future life, 
there will be no sin, and only 
such punishment as results 
from the absence of devel- 
opment consequent on sin 
while on earth. ff Death is 
but a step in man's progres- 
sive life." 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



45 



Gehenna,— (See " Hell.") 
This was a well-known locality 
on the south of Jerusalem, 
where the Jews once wor- 
shipped the idol Moloch. Chil- 
dren were roasted there as 
sacrifices (Josh. xv. 8, xviii, 16 ; 
2 Kings xxiii. 10). So say 
Campbell, Schleusner, Stuart, 
Park hurst, etc. The word 
should not be translated hell, 
but should stand as Gehenna. 
It should no more be rendered 
hell than should Babylon. In 
process of time this valley be- 
came the receptacle of the filth 
and sewage of Jerusalem (2 
Kings xxiii. 10 ; Jer, vii. 31, 
32, xix. 2, 6). Into this 
place bodies of criminals were 
thrown without burial ; and it 
became a place of horror to 
the Jews, who have great re- 
gard for their places of sepul- 
ture. At length it became an 
emblem of sorrow, sin, calam- 
ity; aud in the twelve times 
the word is found in the New 
Testament, it denotes either 
first, the literal place ; or, sec- 
ondly, those calamities of which 
it is a fit emblem, — but always 
of temporal duration. It is 



found only twelve times, used 
on eight occasions, and always 
to Jews. Only Jesus and 
James employ it. Paul, who 
"shunned not to declare the 
whole counsel of God," never 
warned the Gentiles against 
it, in the thirty years of his 
ministry. Jesus never ad- 
dressed it to unbelievers but 
once, and then explained it as 
about to come in this life 
(Matt, xxiii. 33). It is used 
to signify : — 

I. Shameful death, severe 
punishment in this life 
(Schleusner, Parrar, etc.). II. 
Literal fire in this world 
(Mark ix. 43, 48). III. The 
literal destruction of the bodies 
of men (Matt. v. 22, xviii. 9). 
IY. Clement, one of the earli- 
est of the Christian fathers, 
uses it to describe his ideas of 
punishment, and yet he was 
a Universalist ; which demon- 
strates that, in the early days 
of the church, the word did 
not signify a place of endless 
torment. It means either a 
literal place of destruction, or 
it is an emblem of moral, civil, 
or spiritual calamities; but 



46 



UNIVERSALIS! 



always in this life. It stands 
as Gehenna in the Trench 
Bible , Wakefield's translation, 
Improved Version, etc. Ear- 
rar says (Preface " Eternal 
Hope ") : " In the Old Testa- 
ment it is merely the pleasant 
valley of Hinnom (Ge Hinnom), 
subsequently desecrated and 
defiled by Josiah; on this 
account used, according to 
the Jewish tradition, as the 
common sewerage of the city. 
The corpses of the worst crim- 
inals were flung into it un- 
buried, and fires were lit to 
purify the contaminated air. 
It then became a word which 
secondarily implied (1) the 
severest judgment which a 
judge could pass upon a crim- 
inal, the casting forth of his 
unburied corpse amid the fires 
and worms of this polluted 
valley ; and (2) a punishment, 
which to the Jews as a body 
never meant an endless punish- 
ment beyond the grave. Hell 
must be a complete mistrans- 
lation, since it attributes to 
the term used by Christ a 
sense entirely different from 
that in which it was used by 



our Lord's hearers, and, there- 
fore, entirely different from the 
sense in which he could have 
used it." Origen says (c Cel- 
sus, vi. 25) that Gehenna de- 
notes (1) the Yale of Hinnom 
and (2) a purificatory fire (eis 
ten met a basanon katharsi?i), 
The Jewish authorities say 
(Mishna), "The judgment of 
Gehenna is for twelve months." 
(Asarath Maamaroth) " There 
will hereafter be no Gehenna." 
(Emech Hammelech) "The 
wicked stay in Gehenna till 
the resurrection, and then the 
Messiah, passing through it, 
redeems them." Whatever 
Gehenna means or does not 
mean, endless punishment is 
a doctrine that derives no 
support from the use of Ge- 
henna in the Bible. [Hanson's 
" Bible Hell; " " Universalist 
Book of Reference."] 

General Judgment. — 
(See "Day of Judgment," 
"Judgment.") The general 
"judgment" or "day of judg- 
ment" is (1) now (John xii. 
31 ; Isa. xliii., xxxiv. ; Jer. ix. ; 
Ps. vii. ; Zeph. iii.), in the 
present life, to continue into 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



47 



the next, during the Gospel 
Day, or the mediatorial reign 
of Christ. (2) It is a disci- 
plinary proceeding ; that is, its 
awards are reformatory, and 
so it is an occasion of joy to 
all who perceive its real char- 
acter (Ps. xcviii). (3) It 
ends in the conversion and 
salvation of all who shall be 
subject to it. When the Son, 
who is the Judge, shall deliver 
up to the Father the work 
confided to him, God shall be 
all in all (ICor.xv). [ ff Uni- 
versalist Book of Reference ; " 
Hanson's i: Bible Threatenings 
Explained. 55 ] 

Gnashing of Teeth. — 
(See " Hell Eire. 55 ) A figure 
of speech denoting the vexa- 
tion of the Jews when they 
should find themselves outside 
the kingdom of heaven, into 
which the Gentiles had entered 
before them. It relates to this 
world. [Hanson's " Bible 
Hell; 55 < f Bible Threatenings 
Explained ; 55 " TJniversalist 
Book of Reference. 55 ] 

God. — The word by which 
Deity is named denotes a per- 
sonal being infinite in all his 



attributes, — wisdom, power, 
mercy, justice, goodness, holi- 
ness, etc., — self-existent and 
eternal, without beginning of 
days or end of years, the Cre- 
ator of life and all things ; 
omnipresent, and therefore im- 
manent in all beings and in 
all things. He governs all 
things and all beings. Moral 
beings he governs by motives ; 
while he is always employing 
his attributes in the work of 
bringing them into harmony 
with himself, he respects the 
finite will, and does not compel 
obedience. He has ordained 
a perfect moral universe, and 
has instituted the requisite 
means, and his perfect attri- 
butes guarantee the result. 
Omniscient, omnipotent, om- 
nipresent, infinitely good, and 
holy, universal holiness alone 
can satisfy him, and he will 
tolerate no other result. The 
language of all moral beings 
should be : — 

" From thee, great God, we spring, to 
thee we tend, 
Path, motive, guide, original, and 
end." 

[Austin on the "Attributes;" 
Thayer's (< Theology ; " and 



48 



UNIVERSALIST 



Williamson's " Exposition and 
Defence. 5 '] 

Gospel. — (See " Evangeli- 
cal") This word is a modern 
form of the ancient Anglo- 
Saxon " God's spel," or "good 
spell/ 5 the latter word mean- 
ing sentence. Good and God 
were anciently synonymous. 
Literally the word means good 
news or glad tidings. The 
original Greek is eu, good, and 
aggelion, tidings. The word 
gospel cannot stand for any- 
thing but good news. (Luke 
ii. 10) "A great joy to all 
people." Only that form of 
Christianity can be called evan- 
gelical which brings cheerful 
tidings ; and the more joyful 
any presentation of Christian- 
ity is, the better is it entitled 
to be called evangelical. Uni- 
versalists claim to be evangel- 
ical in the full and literal sense 
of the word. 

Great Gulf.— (See 
"Hell," "Rich Man and Laz- 
arus," "Hades.") The chasm 
between the " rich man and 
Lazarus " was " fixed ; " but 
two considerations show that 
it was to be of temporary 



duration. 1. "Every valley 
shall be exalted; " and 2, Hell 
(Hades), in which the great 
gulf was located, is itself to 
be emptied and then destroyed. 
(Rev. xx. 13, 14.) "Death 
and hell gave up the dead that 
were in them, and were cast 
into the lake of fire ; " that is, 
destroyed. The great gulf is 
the chasm of separation be- 
tween the Jews and Gentiles, 
which will disappear when 
"the fulness of the Gentiles 
comes in" and "all Israel is 
saved" (Rom. xi. 11, 25, 27). 
But wherever it is, it must 
cease to be when the place 
containing it, Hades, is de- 
stroyed. [Hanson's " Bible 
Hell."] 

Hades (Hebrew Sheol). 
(See "Hell," "Rich Man and 
Lazarus.") These words oc- 
cur sixty-four times in the 
Old Testament, Established 
Yersion ; and are rendered hell 
thirty-two times, grave twenty- 
nine times, and pit three times. 
In most of these, the word 
hell is dropped and the orig- 
inal Hades is used in the Re- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



49 



vised Version. In the New 
Testament the word occurs 
ten times hell, and grave once ; 
though the Revision properly 
substitutes the original Hades. 
The original word should stand 
in all the seventy-five passages 
in which it occurs. Hades 
is, 1, on earth (Deut. xxxii. 
"2-2), 2. Men are delivered 
from it (Ps. xxx. 3 ; 2 Sam. 
xxii. 5, 6). 3. Sometimes it is 
of brief duration; it kept its 
prisoner seventy-two hours 
(Jonah ii. 2). 4. Jacob de- 
sired it (Gen. xxvii. 35). 
5. Hezekiah expected to go 
there (Isa. xxvii. 10). 6. 
Houses, goods, etc., go into 
it (Num. xvi. 30, 33). 7. 
All men go there (Ps. lxxxix. 
18). 8. It is a place of rest 
(Job. xiv. 13). 9. All men 
will be delivered from it (Hos. 
xiii. 14; Rev. xx. 13). 10. 
It is to be destroyed (Hos. 
xiii. 11; Rev. xx. 11). I. 
Sometimes it means the grave, 
or state of the dead. TVhitby 
says, if Sheol throughout the 
Old Testament, and Hades in 
the Septuagint answering to 
it signify, not the place of 



punishment or of the souls of 
bad men only, but the grave 
only, or the place of death." 

II. Sometimes it is a figure 
of destruction, sorrow, degra- 
dation, moral desolation (Ps. 
xxx. 3 ; Isa. xiv. 9-15 ; Isa. 
v. 13, 11 ; Ps. xlix. 11 ; Luke 
xvi) . Campbell says, " In 
my judgment, it ought never 
to be rendered hell in Scrip- 
ture: at least, in the sense 
wherein that word is usually 
understood by Christians." 

III. But whether used liter- 
ally or figuratively, it is to be 
destroyed. Its inhabitants are 
all to be released, and the 
place itself annihilated (Hos. 
xiii. 11, 17; Rev. xx. 13, 11). 
The word Hades should take 
the place of hell, wherever the 
latter word occurs in the Bible. 
But as the place itself and all 
it stands for are to be de- 
stroyed, it represents only 
temporal, and never endless, 
consequences. Universalists 
believe fully in Sheol, Hades, 
and in all they signify; but 
deny that they are endless in 
duration, or that they ever de- 
note post mortem sin or suffer- 



50 



UNIVERSALIST 



ing. The Revised Version 
properly retains Hades in the 
New Testament, and never 
renders it hell. [Hanson's 
" Bible Hell;" ff Universalist 
Book of Reference. "] 

Heaven. — Literally, the 
sky; but usually a state or 
place of happiness and holiness. 
The kingdom of heaven is a 
condition of purity. The most 
common use of the word is the 
state or place of the blessed 
beyond the grave. [Weaver's 
" Heaven. 5 '] 

Hell. — (See ff Gehenna/' 
" Hades/' " Sheol," (C Tar- 
tarus.") Hell is a translation 
of the Hebrew Sheol and the 
Greek word Hades in the Old 
Testament ; and of the Greek 
words Hades, Gehenna, and 
Tartarus in the New. The 
original words sometimes de- 
note the state of the dead, 
sometimes a literal locality 
near Jerusalem (Gehenna), and 
sometimes the consequences of 
sin ; but always in this world. 
They never have reference to a 
condition of suffering beyond 
the grave. The word hell has 
become so polarized with error, 



that it should not stand in the 
Bible. The Revised Version 
has banished it from one half 
of the places in which it is 
found in the Bible ; and in all 
the passages containiug it, 
Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, or 
Tartarus should be substi- 
tuted. [Hanson's " Bible 
Hell."] 

Hell, brought down to. 
— Great humiliation in this 
world. Kapharnaum had 
never been literally " exalted 
to heaven," but it had enjoyed 
great material prosperity in this 
world. To "be brought down 
to hell " (Hades) means a cor- 
responding adversity. Only in 
this world could a city be 
brought down to hell (see 
"Hell"). Dr. A. Clarke 
says : " The word here means 
a state of the utmost woe 
and ruin and desolation, to 
which these impenitent cities 
should be reduced • for in the 
wars between the Romans and 
the Jews, these cities were 
totally destroyed, so that no 
traces are now found of Beth- 
saida, Chorazin, or Caper- 
naum." So Babylon (Isa. 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



51 



xiv.) was brought down to 
hell (Sheol, Hades), denoting 
its overthrow. (See " Day 
of Judgment. 5 ') [Hanson's 
" Bible Hell; 55 " TJniversalist 
Book of Reference. 55 ] 

Hell, Child of. — " The 
child of hell 55 (see " Hell 55 ) 
is one whose character is vile. 
Gehenna was a ravine into 
which was cast the rubbish, 
offal, and sewage of Jerusalem; 
and fires were kept burning 
there to prevent the accumula- 
tions from infecting the atmos- 
phere. As the purpose of 
collecting the offal was to de- 
stroy it, and as the fires were 
for the purpose of purification, 
the thought of the sinner's 
improvement is not lost sight 
of even when he is called a 
"child of Gehenna 55 to indi- 
cate that his wicked heart re- 
sembles the smoking valley 
and its impurities. [Hanson's 
"Bible Hell. 55 ] 

Hell Fire. — This phrase 
denotes the fire of Gehenna, 
the literal flame of the valley 
near Jerusalem , in which con- 
stant fires were kept burning 
to consume the offal and refuse 



of the city, into which crim- 
inals were cast, and which re- 
ceived the bodies of those who 
were slain when Jerusalem 
was destroyed by the Roman 
armies, as prophesied by our 
Lord, in Matt, xxiv., xxv. It 
has no reference to punish- 
ment after death ; or, indeed, 
punishment anywhere else than 
in and near Jerusalem in the 
first century of the Christian 
era. The Revised Version 
places " Gehenna of fire 55 in 
the margin, to indicate the real 
meaning of "hell fire." [Han- 
son's "'Bible Hell. 55 ] 

Holiness. — This term not 
only denotes absence of sin, 
but positive, active goodness. 
Adam was innocent only, not 
holy. What an unstained 
sheet of paper is to a page 
containing the Lord's Prayer, 
innocence is to holiness. A 
babe is innocent ; Christ was 
holy. All men are innocent 
at birth ; all will be holy when 
all shall voluntarily have dis- 
carded sin and become obedi- 
ent to God. 

Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost. 
— The Spirit of God ; not a 



52 



UNIVERSALIST 



personality, but sometimes a 
personification. Not a part of 
a tri-personal Trinity, but a 
manifestation of the Father. 
"Holy Ghost" is an unfortu- 
nate, inaccurate, and unwar- 
rantable phrase. The Holy 
Spirit is the influence of the 
Father, always present and 
always active, that will always 
continue to work with human 
spirits until it shall have re- 
created all in the Divine like- 
ness. Sometimes in the New 
Testament the definite article 
is not found before " Holy 
Spirit ; " in such instances the 
meaning is "a divine spirit." 
Personality is not meant when 
a personification is employed. 
The term generally denotes a 
divine influence from God. 

Human Nature. — (See 
"Nature of Children," "In- 
fants.") The nature of man, 
human nature, is intrinsically 
pure. The only specimens we 
see are new-born children. 
The only perfect specimen 
earth has ever known, lived 
out through maturity, was 
" the man Christ Jesus," who 
was " tempted in all points as 



we are, yet without sin ; " be- 
cause he preserved unstained 
that nature which he, in com- 
mon with all men, inherited. 
Such language as "poor hu- 
man nature " has no warrant. 
Men may acquire sinful, cor- 
rupt characters ; they cannot 
possess a sinful nature. Hu- 
man nature is pure, sinless. 

Immortal Life. — (See 
"Immortality.") The soul's 
happy, immortal existence is 
stated in the Bible in un- 
equivocal terms, by words 
that are not found connected 
with any thing that will end. 
(Heb. vii. 16) "An imperish- 
able (akatalutos) life." (1 
Pet. i. 4) "An incorrupt- 
ible (aphtharton) and unfad- 
ing (amarantoTi) inheritance." 
God is immortal (aphtharto) 
(Rom. i. 23; 1 Cor. ix. 25). 
Man is immortal, incorrupt- 
ible (aphtharsian, athamsian) 
(Rom. ii. 7; 1 Cor. xv. 42, 
50; 2 Tim. i. 10). (ITim.vi. 
16) " Who (God) only hath 
immortality." Now all these 
words were in common use 
when our Lord spoke, and 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



53 



when his immediate followers 
wrote and spoke; but they 
never connected them with 
anything of a terminable dura- 
tion. These words, and not the 
variable and equivocal terms 
rendered everlasting, eternal, 
etc., describe the souFs du- 
ration and happiness beyond 
the grave. [Hanson's " Aion- 
Aionios."] 

Immortality. — (See ' Im- 
mortal Life.") God only pos- 
sesses immortality, but he has 
conferred it upon human be- 
ings. And the various terms 
in the New Testament that 
define man s endless existence 
not only carry the idea of in- 
terminable duration, but also 
of purity, incorruption. [Han- 
son's " Aion-Aionios."] 

Imputation. — (See 
" Righteous.") There is no 
foundation in Scripture or 
reason for the doctrine of 
" imputed righteousness ; " 
that one can clothe himself 
with the righteousness of 
Christ, and wear it as an ar- 
mor to defend himself from 
the wrath of God, or to enable 
him to possess a character he 



has not acquired by his own 
Heaven-aided efforts. Right- 
eousness and character are 
synonymous terms. 

Infants. — See " Human 
Nature." 

Inspiration. — (See "Mir- 
acles/' " Supernatural/") The 
doctrine of plenary inspiration, 
that God dictated the exact 
statements contained in the 
Bible, is rejected by Univer- 
salists. But with inconsider- 
able exceptions they believe 
that in a miraculous, super- 
natural manner God illumin- 
ated the minds of prophet, 
seer, apostle, and, more than 
all others, of Jesus Christ ; 
communicating truths to them 
in an especial manner. The 
doctrines they inculcate were 
revealed to them by the holy 
spirit of God. They did not 
obtain them by a process of 
thinking. The golden rule 
was not thought out as Euclid 
worked a problem, or Shak- 
speare a drama. It was super- 
naturally revealed to Jesus. 
Inspiration means supernat- 
ural light and guidance. The 
Scriptures are inspired, be- 



54 



UNI VERSALIS T 



cause they contain a revela- 
tion from God concerning duty 
and destiny, relating to God 
and man ; and, therefore, they 
are beyond all other books 
authority in religious faith and 
practice. (Job xxxii. 8) " There 
is a spirit in man, and the in- 
spiration of the Almighty giv- 
eth him understanding. 5 ' (2 
Tim. hi. 16) "All Scripture 
given by inspiration of God is 
profitable for doctrine. 3 ' [At- 
wood's " Revelation ; " Lee's 
"Birth from Above."] 

Intercession. — In Rom. 
viii. 26, Paul represents the 
Spirit as C( making intercession 
for us." It is here meant that 
as, moved by the Holy Spirit, 
men pray, it is the Spirit that 
intercedes, just as (Phil. ii. 
12, 13) it is God that "works 
in us to will and to do," while 
we " work out our own salva- 
tion " The thought that God 
needs any one to intercede 
with him on man's behalf is 
repugnant to the Christian 
view of his character. 

Intermediate State. — 
This is a fiction of theology. 
There is no intermediate state. 



Death is a natural step in the 
progressive life of man. The 
soul has no period of uncon- 
sciousness, but passes from 
this life to the next ; is born 
into the immortal state out of 
its mortal conditions, just as 
it enters this life from its ante- 
natal state. " Purgatory," or 
.a period of unconsciousness 
between death and the resur- 
rection, are theories for which 
there is no foundation. At one 
time there was a small num- 
ber of Universalists who held, 
with the Rev. Walter Balfour, 
that mankind died into utter 
unconsciousness with the dis- 
solution of the body and were 
resuscitated at the resurrec- 
tion. But Universalists now 
are agreed that there is no 
intermediate state, but that 
death is 

" Only a step 
Out of a tent already luminous 
With light that shines through its 
transparent walls." 

Jesus. — (See u Christ," 
ff Saviour.") Matt. i. 21 ; 
Acts v. 31 ; John iv. 42. 

Judgment. — (See <f Eter- 
nal Judgment," " Judgment 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



55 



of Hell," " Judgment to 
Come," " Judgment Day/ 5 
etc.) The word '''judgment " 
in the New Testament stands 
for the awards of conduct ad- 
ministered by Christ, who says 
(John ix. 39), " Tor judgment 
am I come into this world ; " 
that is, that his religion would 
manifest the real characters of 
men, and establish the prin- 
ciples by which rewards and 
punishments would be admin- 
istered. [Hanson's " Bible 
Threat enings Explained. 5 '] 

Judgment of Hell. — (See 
"Hell," "Judgment.") Matt, 
xxiii. 33. This imprecation 
refers to the doom prophesied 
in Jer. xix. and Isa. lxvi. 24. 
It was to come on that gen- 
eration. [Hanson's " Bible 
Hell. 55 ] 

Judgment to Come. — 
(See " Judgment.") This 
phraseology in the New Tes- j 
tament usually, if not always, 
means the consequences of j 
wrong-doing very soon to 
occur, and always in this 
world, never in the future 
life. In Acts xxiv. 25, when 
Paul ££ reasoned of judgment 



to come," the Greek word 
mellb (about to be; is left un- 
translated in King James's 
Version. The judgment was 
soon to befall the royal gov- 
ernor, and it did soon descend 
upon him in this world. The 
Xew Testament never de- 
scribes the judgment to come 
as beyond the grave. "Han- 
son's "New Covenant."] 

Justice. — This attribute 
in God seeks to accomplish 
what is just. It has no vin- 
dictiveness, but is ever active 
to establish what is right and 
to destroy whatever is wrong. 
It takes into account all rela- 
tions and bearings, and acts 
with reference to the needs 
and interests of all concerned. 
A just law is one whose pen- 
alties will promote the fulfil- 
ment of the law. A just 
penalty is one that aids the 
law. The just law of God 
demands universal obedience. 
Endless punishment of one 
person would defeat the pur- 
pose of the law, and therefore 
would not be a just penalty. 
In fact, justice and mercy are 
harmonious. (Ps. lxii. 12) 



56 



UNIVERSALIS! 



" Also unto thee, 0 Lord, 
belongetli inercy ;/<?/• thou ren- 
derest to every man according 
to his work." Thus it is de- 
clared that the law is merciful 
because it is just. Justice is, 
therefore, not a blood-thirsty 
attribute demanding revenge, 
but a desire for the prevalence 
of justice, right. A just man 
is a kind, merciful, upright 
one. A just God is a being 
vrho is employed in accom- 
plishing the prevalence of uni- 
versal right and justice. The 
fact that God is just is a guar- 
anty that he will adapt the 
penalties of sin and all human 
experiences to promote his 
purpose of universal good. 
Justice in God and man is 
the synonym of goodness. 
[Thayer's " Theology of Uni- 
versalism."] 

Kingdom of Heaven, of 
God, of Christ, is never the 
perfect state after death; it is 
the reign of Christian prin- 
ciples, the. prevalence of Chris- 
tianity in the human heart and 
in the world. This will be 
seen when its description in 



the New Testament is recalled. 
It is a net that gathers good 
and bad fish (Matt. xiii. 47) ; 
it is composed of foolish as 
well as wise virgins (Matt, 
xxv. 1) ; it is ground that 
yields tares as well as good 
plants (Matt. xiii. 25) ; it is 
to end by being surrendered 
to God by its ruler, Christ 
(1 Cor. xv. 24). Heaven con- 
tains nothing impure or im- 
perfect, and it will never end ; 
but ff the kingdom of heaven/ 5 
(c the kingdom of God," is im- 
perfect and of temporal dura- 
tion. It is therefore in this 
world. [Weaver's "Heaven."] 

Last Day refers to the 
resurrection day, when it was 
supposed the dead would rise. 
Martha says (John xi. 24), 
"I know that he shall rise 
again in the resurrection at 
the last day." The words also 
occur in John vi. 39, 40, 44, 
54. 

Last Days. — (2 Tim.iii.l.) 
The end of the Jewish Church, 
Last Judgment. — See 

ff Judgment/' "Day of Judg- 
ment. 5 ' 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



57 



Latter Times. — (1 Tim. 
iv. 1.) Dr. Clarke says, "any 
times consequent to those in 
which the church then lived." 

Law, God's. — God's law, 
to which all human beings are 
amenable, is the same as that 
announced to Adam. (Gen. ii. 
17) ei In the day that thou 
eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die." It is a law that every 
one can understand and com- 
prehend, for it demonstrates 
its nature and character in its 
rewards and penalties. Paul 
describes the punishment of 
disobedience as " a darkened 
understanding and alienation 
from God" (Eph. iv.18), and 
" death in trespasses and sins" 
(Eph. ii. 1). Jesus gives a 
portrait of the sinner in the 
parable of the Prodigal Son 
(Luke xv.) a and so does Moses 
(Dent. xxx. 15-19). The first 
transgressor fully experienced 
it (Gen. hi. 17-19), as did 
Cain, the antediluvians, the di- 
luvians, Sodom and Gomorrah, 
etc. Paul declares that in 
the olden time " every trans- 
gression and disobedience re- 
ceived a just recompense of 



reward" (Heb. ii. 2). This 
is true of all in every age. 
Punishment inevitably follows 
every transgression, and re- 
ward accompanies each worthy 
action; and reward and pun- 
ishment continue until their 
purpose is effected. "God's 
law is perfect, converting the 
soul" (Ps. xix. 7). In no 
instance, therefore, can pun- 
ishment be without end; but 
it will continue, here and 
hereafter, until its purpose is 
effected in the purification of 
all souls. 

Life. — Physical existence, 
but also, real living, resulting 
from devotedness to one's 
highest interests. The apostle 
says (Rom. viii. 6), "To be 
carnally minded is death ; but 
to be spiritually minded is life 
and peace." See Matt. x. 39, 
xvi. 25. 

Lose his Soul. — (See 
"Destrov Soul and Body in 
Hell," "Perdition," "Lost," 
etc.) This language should 
be "lose his life. 13 The Re- 
vised Version so concedes. 
Dr. Adam Clarke says : "On 
what authority many have 



58 



UXIYERSALIST 



translated the word psuche 
(Matt. xvi. 24-26) in the 25th 
verse c life 5 and in this verse 
'soul, 5 I know not, but am 
certain it means life in both 
places. If a man should gain 
the whole world — its riches, 
honors, and pleasures — and 
lose his life, what would all 
these profit him, seeing they 
can only be enjoyed during 
life?" [Hanson's " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Loss, Lost, etc. — A state 
of sinfulness. The prodigal 
was lost (see " Perdition ") a 
but he was found. The piece 
of silver, the sheep were lost, 
but they were found ; and the 
parables state that the loss 
only continued "until 55 the 
lost objects were found. All 
loss is temporary, never final, 
and is to be followed by re- 
storation. (See Luke xv.) 
Judas was " lost " out of the 
apostleship, while the eleven 
wese " kept." The words 
ff iost, 55 "lose, 55 etc., are from 
apollumi, which is also trans- 
lated " destroy, 55 " perish, 55 
"marred. 55 (Matt. viii. 25) 
" Lord, save us, we perish!' 



(Matt. x. 6) " The lost sheep 
of the house of Israel." (Mark 
viii. 35) " Whoever frill save 
his life shall lose it. 55 (Matt, 
xviii. 11) "The Son of man 
is come to save that which 
was lost'' The word contains 
no reference to "final loss. 55 
(See "Lose his Soul. 55 ) [Han- 
son's " Bible Threatenings 
Explained. 55 ] 

Love. — The real divine es- 
sence, the harmonious com- 
bination of all the attributes 
of God. Each trait of God's 
character is one angle. Love 
is the infinite crystal. Noth- 
ing God does or is, is contrary 
to perfect love. The penalties 
to sin he ordains ; the punish- 
ishments he inflicts ; the ex- 
periences he allows his crea- 
tures to undergo ; everything 
that occurs in time and eter- 
nity, — all are conceived and 
executed, begun and ended in 
love, and will accomplish re- 
sults of good to all. Justice, 
wisdom, mercy, truth, power, 
— all are parts of this " central 
sun of all God 5 s glories joined 
in one. 55 " God is love " is 
the gospel's epitome, its alpha 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



59 



and omega, its beginning and 
end. Human character ap- 
proaches perfection as it re- 
sembles the divine love. He 
who loves is bom of God, and 
knows God just as far as he 
loves. God loves all outside 
of himself; and man will eter- 
nally approach, though he can 
never reach, God, as he loves 
his Tather supremely and his 
kind and other beings univer- 
sally. "He that loves not 
knows not God, for God is 
love 55 (1 John iv. 8). "Every 
one that loves has been be- 
gotten of God, and knows 
God" (iv. 7). [Hanson's 
"Bible Proofs. 5 '] 

3Ian is created, in every 
instance as at the first, in the 
image of God ; and he is, 
therefore, the child of God. 
He owes his Creator and 
Father filial obedience. He 
is pure, innocent, until he 
sins. "When he sins, he goes 
contrary to his nature. Were 
he bom depraved, it would be 
natural for him to sin; and the 
worse he became, the more 
natural would be his conduct. 



But wickedness is well called 
unnatural, inasmuch as it is 
contrary to every faculty of 
man's nature. He has the 
germ of every quality of the 
purest angel, and is on his 
way through all vicissitudes 
from the innocence of infancy 
to the purity of angelhood. 

3Xiracles. — The general 
understanding of " miracle " 
among L niversalists is a work 
wrought in strict accordance 
with the laws of God, but 
above and beyond contempo- 
rary human knowledge and 
ability; though some regard 
miracles as violations of na- 
ture's laws. The words 
"signs/ 5 Ci wonders, 55 "pow- 
ers, 55 are better renderings of 
the original terms. L niver- 
salists accept the Xew Testa- 
ment accounts of healing the 
sick, restoring sight to the 
blind, raising the dead, and 
other remarkable deeds as- 
cribed to Jesus, and usually 
called miraculous, but do not 
think they were in violation of 
the law of God. They believe 
that Jesus did what is related 
of him by a power specially 



60 



UNLVERSALIST 



conferred upon him for that 
purpose ; that his whole life 
was a miracle, supernatural, — 
that is, not unnatural, but 
higher natural, — that God's 
higher laws were employed to 
suspend the ordinary proced- 
ure, as magnetism suspends 
gravitation in floating a needle 
on water. They accept the 
record of the life of Christ in 
the gospels as historically ac- 
curate. (See " Miraculous 
Conception.") The word mir- 
acle is a translation of two 
Greek words, rendered sign 
fifty-one times, token one, mir- 
acle thirty-one, wonder four, 
power seventy-seven, etc. Sign 
or power conveys the accu- 
rate idea of the original better 
than "miracle" as ordinarily 
understood. [Paige's "Com- 
mentary."] 

Miraculous Conception. 
— (See " Miracles.") While 
some Universalists understand 
the account of the birth of 
Christ as teaching that he was 
naturally born, but that God 
gave him a special ante-natal 
endowment, and others re- 
gard the account as a highly 



wrought statement of events 
that were purely and perfectly 
natural, the prevalent view is, 
that God specially interfered 
with the ordinary processes of 
nature for the purpose of cre- 
ating a new and higher type 
of humanity, just as he has 
specially interfered in the nat- 
ural world whenever a new 
species has been created. That 
is, that the birth of Jesus Christ 
can only be accounted for on 
the theory that he was a su- 
pernatural being. To them, 
the so-called "miraculous con- 
ception " of the " last Adam " 
is as credible as is the ac- 
count of the creation of the 
"first Adam." Both, from 
God's side, are perfectly nat- 
ural, though supernatural from 
man's side. No law was vio- 
lated; but, in harmony with the 
laws of God, the Creator cre- 
ated the progenitor of a new 
order of spiritual life, as de- 
scribed in Matt. i. and Luke i. 
Still, the differences of opinion 
above noted prevail among our 
people, with the preponderance 
in favor of the last named 
view. (See " Jesus the Christ," 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



61 



" Emmanuel/' " Divinity of 
Christ.") [Paige's "Commen- 
tary 

Mission of Christ. — (See 
" Saviour.") Jesus Christ was 
foretold by the prophets and 
seers of the ages preceding his 
advent. He was endowed 
with faculties and supernatu- 
rally aided, so that he not only 
taught perfect truth, but gave 
a perfect example. His mis- 
sion is to deliver all mankind 
from sin by the power of his 
truths believed and practiced, 
and by the force of his example 
reproduced in all other lives. 
He makes known to men the 
disposition of God and the 
duty of man, and illustrates 
both in his own life and death ; 
and he will finally save all 
souls through the influence of 
his example copied by all. 
[Crane's "Jesus the Christ ; " 
Lee's " Birth from Above ; " 
Cone's ff Salvation."] 

Modern History of Uni- 
versalism. — Every age of 
the church has listened to the 
utterance of the true faith, 
though during the dark ages 
the voices proclaiming it were 



few and faint. With the dawn 
of the Reformation they were 
multiplied, and spoke in all 
the most enlightened parts of 
Christendom. In the Episco- 
pal Church in England and 
her colonies, in Germany and 
elsewhere, the doctrine was 
heard in pulpits and printed in 
books. And about 1770 it 
began to attract the attention 
of the world, particularly in 
America, as a distinct move- 
ment. It came to this coun- 
try through five channels : 1, 
the Mystics, a. d. 1636; 2, 
the Dunkers, a. d. 1719 ; 3, 
the Moravians, a. d. 1735 ; 
4, the Episcopalians, a. d. 
1754; 5, the Cougregational- 
ists, a. d. 1750. Its advocates 
among these branches of the 
church were able and saintly 
men. But it was not until 
the landing of John Murray in 
America (a. d. 1770) that the 
movement began which re- 
sulted in the "Universalist 
Church. He first preached 
in Good Luck, New Jersey, 
and afterwards extensively in 
the United States, chiefly in 
Gloucester, Mass., where the 



62 



UNIVERSAL1ST 



first church of the name was 
organized, Jan. 1, 1779. From 
this time until the present 
the denomination has grown 
steadily, until it now num- 
bers (1891) 717 clergymen, 
41,177 church members, and 
places of worship valued at 
$8,975,034. It has 29 State 
conventions, 11 colleges and 
academies valued at §3,000,- 
000, and convention funds 
amounting to $515,960. But 
its central doctrine, once al- 
most universally derided and 
discarded, is now professed by 
thousands in other churches, 
while its spirit has leavened 
and modified the creeds of 
Christendom. The reader will 
be interested and instructed in 
consulting on this subject, 
" Universalism in America," 
by Richard Eddy, D.D., Bos- 
ton : Universalist Publishing 
House, two volumes. An ad- 
mirable work. 

Natural Depravity. — 

Depravity is sinfulness ; and 
all sin is voluntary, acquired. 
Man is not naturally depraved. 
He is by nature sinless, inno- 



cent. (See " Human Nature/' 
"Man," "Children") The 
Scripture never declares " men 
were all born out of the way/ 5 
but that "they are all gone 
out of the way." They could 
not have gone out of the way 
had they not been born in the 
way. All depravity is a vol- 
untary departure from the 
original purity. "God made 
man upright, but he has sought 
out many inventions " (Eccl. 
vii. 29). Sin is his invention, 
his departure from the purity 
of nature. Native, natural de- 
pravity is an impossibility. 

Natural Man, in the New 
Testament, is a mistranslation ; 
it should be animal man. In 
1 Cor. xv. the contrast is not 
between the natural and the 
spiritual man, but between 
the animal and the spiritual. 
[Hanson's " New Covenant."] 

Never Forgiveness. — In 
Mark hi. 29, " hath never for- 
giveness " is a mistranslation. 
The correct rendering is, 
" hath not forgiveness to the 
age, but is involved in an 
age-long transgression." The 
word "never" is not in the 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



63 



text. Even Augustine taught 
that this is not an endless 
doom. He says (Lange's 
"Commentary on Matthew, 55 
pp. 227-229), "For it would 
not be truly said of some, 
they are forgiven neither in 
this age (sec (do) nor in the 
future, were there not some 
who, though not in this, are 
in the future." (See "This 
World and the World to 
Come," " Sin against the Holy 
Ghost.") If those spoken of 
were literally never forgiven, 
it would be contrary to verse 
28, which says, "All sins shall 
be forgiven," etc. It is a 
strong expression, to denote 
the inexcusable sin of ascrib- 
ing the deeds of Jesus to an 
evil spirit. [Hanson's "Aion- 
Aionios" and "Bible Threat- 
enings Explained."] 

Omnipotence. — (See 
"Purpose of God," "Promise 
of God.") God is almighty. 
There is nothing he wishes to 
do that he cannot do and will 
not ultimately perform; and 
as his nature is love, his power 
is impelled by love ; so that 



all that love desires, omnip- 
otence will execute. God's 
omnipotence necessitates uni- 
versal salvation. [Hanson's 
"Bible Proofs. 55 ] 

Omniscience. — (See 
"Will of God, 55 "'Pleasure of 
God. 55 ) God is all- wise. He 
can devise means to accom- 
plish whatever he desires ; and 
as his nature is love, his wis- 
dom is impelled by love ; so 
that all that love desires, om- 
niscience will devise means to 
execute. God 5 s omniscience 
necessitates universal salva- 
tion. [Hanson's " Bible 
Proofs"] 

Pardon. — (See "Forgive- 
ness. 55 ) Deserved punishment 
is never forgiven, but pardon 
always relates to sin, trans- 
gression. The idea that is so 
frequently urged, that the just 
desert of sin is endless pun- 
ishment, but that it is for- 
given, pardoned on repent- 
ance, has no warrant in the 
Scriptures. The proper pen- 
alty of sin is wisely, justly, 
mercifully adjusted ; and it 
would be a calamity to remit 



64 



UN1VERSALIST 



any portion of it. After it is 
fully received, the sin of the 
sinner is pardoned. Human 
governments pardon punish- 
ment, for they lack wisdom to 
fix a perfect penalty ; but 
ec God's law is perfect, convert- 
ing the soul" (Ps. xix. 7). 
[Hanson's " Bible Threaten- 
ings Explained ; " Nye's " Uni- 
versalism ; " Cone's " Univer- 
salism;" Bisbee's "Univer- 
salism,"] 

Paternity, Divine. — See 
" Fatherhood of God." 

Penalty. — (See " Bible 
Threatening s," "Punish- 
ment.") The penalty of a 
wise law must aid in the ful- 
filment of the law, and cannot 
defeat its purpose. The law 
of God aims at universal obe- 
dience. But if the penalty of 
disobedience were endless pun- 
ishment, it would defeat the 
purpose of the law. God has 
ordained that the penalty of 
disobedience shall not only 
punish the transgressor, but 
shall accomplish his welfare 
by resulting in his conversion. 
The Psalmist declares (Ps. xix. 
7), " The law of the Lord is 



perfect, converting the soul." 
The law that does not convert 
is imperfect. But God's law 
is perfect. Its penalties must, 
therefore, be so wisely adapted 
as to convert. To fail in one 
solitary instance would stamp 
the law of God with imperfec- 
tion. Penalty, therefore, is 
always employed by the per- 
fect God and Father of all as 
a beneficent agency, and it 
will contribute towards the 
accomplishment of the end on 
which infinite love is resolved, 
" the one divine event to which 
the whole creation moves." 
[Hanson's "Bible Proofs" 
and " Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained."] 

Perdition (see " Loss ") 
is equivalent to loss or waste, 
or great sinfulness. It never 
denotes remediless depravity. 
[Hanson's " Bible Threaten- 
ings Explained."] 

Perish. — This word means, 
literally, to die; figuratively, 
moral desolation, or vastation. 
In Luke xiii. 3, "Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise 
perish," refers to those who 
had been killed by the fall of 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



65 



the tower of Siloam, and others 
who were slain by Pilate ; and 
our Lord assured his hearers 
that if they did not reform 
they would experience a sim- 
ilar fate in the approaching 
troubles. Dr. Adam Clarke 
says, "This prediction was 
literally fulfilled when the city 
was taken by the Romans." 
Barnes adds : " This was re- 
markably fulfilled; many of 
the Jews were slain in the 
temple, many while offering 
sacrifice, thousands perished 
in a way similar to the Gali- 
leans." Perish never denotes 
endless, or even after-death 
sufferings. Its frequent mean- 
ing is moral and spiritual tor- 
por, resulting from error and 
sin. [" Universalist Book of 
Reference ; " Hanson's " Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained."] 

Pleasure of God. — It is 
the divine pleasure that all 
souls shall achieve holiness, 
and the pleasure of God is to 
be accomplished. [Hanson's 
" Bible Proofs."] 

Probation. — Each mo- 
ment of existence is proba- 
tionary to the next, — to-day 



shapes to-morrow, — but no 
time can decide the endless 
future. The will of every moral 
being must always be free, and 
at any moment the wrong can 
be abandoned and the right 
adopted. In no sense is this 
life a state of probation for 
eternity. Life is a school; 
the first of a series of educa- 
tional processes to extend 
through all the eternal years. 
Neither reason nor revelation 
declares that the eternal future 
depends upon the few brief 
years of this imperfect state 
of being. The prodigal sin- 
ner, even when "dead" and 
"lost" (Luke xv.), retains 
his obligation and ability to 
return to his allegiance to the 
Eather ; and however far the 
wandering sheep may wander, 
or that priceless treasure, the 
human soul, may be lost, it 
will be sought "until found." 
Had God, as he has not, 
hinged eternity on time, he 
would be a fiend and not a 
Eather. [Gorton's "Endless 
Opportunity for all Souls."] 

Probation, Second. — 
There can be no such thing 



66 



UNIVERSALIST 



as a "second probation/' as 
there is no first. Probation 
is perpetual. As long as the 
soul continues a moral being 
and the laws of the spiritual 
realm are unchanged and God 
is unchangeable, probation will 
last for each and for all. [Gor- 
tons " Endless Opportunity 
for all Souls."] 

Promise of God, — God 
has promised the ultimate de- 
liverance of all mankind from 
sin and sorrow, and the prom- 
ise of God will be fulfilled. 
[Hanson's "Bible Proofs."] 

Propitiation. — (See 
- e Atonement.") Paul and 
John employ this word as Uni- 
versalists understand it, — in 
the sense of mercy-seat. The 
propitiatory sacrifice, Christ, 
is not offered to placate God, 
but to recoucile man to his 
Father. John says (1 John 
ii. 1, 2, iv. 10), (( And if any 
man sin, we have an advocate 
with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous : and he is the 
propitiation for our sins ; and 
not for ours only, but also for 
the sins of the whole world." 
" Herein is love, not that we 



loved God, but that he loved us, 
and sent his Son to be the pro- 
pitiation for our sins." Christ 
was the effect and not the 
cause of God's love. He came 
not because God was angry 
with man, but because God 
loved man. He came to rec- 
oncile man to God, not God to 
man. Paul thus employs the 
word (Rom. hi. 25). " TThom 
God hath set forth to be a pro- 
pitiation, through faith in his 
blood, to declare his righteous- 
ness for the remission of sius 
that are past." (See also Heb. 
ix. 5.) Christ came to pro- 
pitiate men, to reconcile them 
to their loving and always rec- 
onciled Father, and not to 
transform God's hatred for all 
into love for a part of man- 
kind. i( God was in Christ, 
reconciling the world unto 
himself" (2 Cor. v. 19). 
i( Christ throws a zone of 
mercy round the world." — 
Guthrie. Propitiation and 
reconciliation are synonymous. 
[Hanson's "Bible Threaten- 
ing s Explained."] 

Punishment. — (See 
(: Retribution/ 5 " Forgive- 



POCKET CY 



CLOPJEDIA. 



67 



ness," " Everlasting Punish- 
ment," " Future Punish- 
ment.") God's punishments 
are instituted to prevent sin 
and reform the sinner. They 
are (1) inevitable. " He that 
doeth wrong shall receive for 
the wrong that he hath done " 
(Col. iii. 25). "Though hand 
join in hand, the wicked shall 
not be unpunished " (Pro v. 
xi. 21). "The wicked are 
like the troubled sea, when it 
cannot rest, whose waters cast 
up mire and dirt continual] v " 
(Isa. lvii. 20). "God will 
by no means clear the guilty " 
(Ex. xxxiv, 7 ; Num. xiv. 18 ; 
see also Prov. xiii. 15, xi. 31 ; 
Ps. cxix. 165). There is no 
escape from the penalty of 
transgression. (2) Punish- 
ment is the medicine pre- 
scribed for the cure of sin. 
It not only aims to cure, but 
prescribed by the infinite phy- 
sician and adapted by omni- 
science and omnipotence to 
the desired end, it will in all 
cases be successful. This is 
taught in Matt. xxv. 46 : 
"These shall go away into 
everlasting punishment." The 



word here rendered " punish- 
ment " is kolasiji) which is thus 
defined : Greenfield, C( Chas- 
tisement, punishment;" He- 
dericus, " The trimming of the 
luxuriant branches of a tree 
or vine to improve it and make 
it -fruitful; " Donnegan, "The 
act of clipping or pruning,, 
restriction, restraint, reproof, 
check, chastisement ; " Gro- 
tius, " The kind of punish- 
ment which tends to the im- 
provement of the criminal, 
is what the Greek philoso- 
phers called kolasis or chas- 
tisement ; " Liddell, " Prun- 
ing, checking, chastising, cor- 
rection ; " Max Miiller, " Do 
we want to know what was 
uppermost in the minds of 
those who formed the word 
for punishment ? The Latin 
jimna or punio, to punish ; the 
root pu in Sanscrit, which 
means to cleanse, to purify, 
tells us that the Latin deriva- 
tion was originally formed, 
not to express mere striking 
or torture, but cleansing, cor- 
recting, delivering from the 
stain of sin." As "Everlast- 
ing " (which see) denotes lira- 



68 



UNIVERSALIST 



ited duration in the Bible and 
"punishment " signifies prun- 
ing, correction, improvement, 
everlasting punishment (aion- 
ion Jcolasin) can have but one 
meaning, temporal, limited 
suffering, ending in reforma- 
tion. The word rendered pun- 
ishment in Matt. xxv. 46, has 
always had this meaning. Says 
Plato ("Protagoras," Sect. 38, 
Vol. I. p. 252), "No one pun- 
ishes (kolazei) the wicked look- 
ing to the past only, simply for 
the wrong he has done ; that 
is, no one does this thing who , 
does not act like a wild beast, 
desiring only revenge without 
thought. Hence he who seeks 
to punish (Jcolazehi) with rea- 
son does not punish for the 
sake of the past wrong deed, 
but for the sake of the future ; 
that neither the man himself, 
who is punished, may do wrong 
again, nor any other who has 
been punished" (see "Law of 
God"). Archdeacon Earrar 
says that " in this instance 
the substantive kolasis is a 
word which in its sole proper 
meaning has reference to the 
correction and bettering of 



him that endures." Professor 
Plumptre : "It carries with it, 
by the definition of the great- 
est of Greek ethical writers, the 
idea of a reformatory process. 
It is inflicted for the sake of him 
who suffers it." Everlasting 
punishment (Jcolasin aionioii) 
does for the soul what pruning 
does for the tree, — improves 
it ; what the crucible of the 
refiner does for the gold, — re- 
fines it. God's punishments 
are those of a Father. They 
are administered to destroy 
sin and reform the sinner. 
Endless punishment is a con- 
tradiction of terms. Endless 
revenge is a supposable asso- 
ciation of words ; but endless 
punishment is as contradictory 
as cold heat, white blackness, 
or evil goodness. What our 
Lord means by ceonian punish- 
ment is discipline to continue 
till its purpose is accomplished 
in the sinner's reformation. 
Here may be noted an objec- 
tion to this view. It is said 
that "inasmuch as the life and 
the punishment are defined by 
the same word in Matt. xxv. 
46, they must be of equal du- 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



69 



ration. If the punishment is 
not endless, the life is not ; if 
the life is, the punishment 
must be." But this does not 
follow. In Hab. iii. 6, we 
read : (Revised Version) " The 
everlasting (aionion) hills . . . 
his ways are everlasting " 
(aionion). Here the mutable 
hills and the immortal God are 
described by the same word. 
So in Rom. xvi. 25, 26, the 
ages of the past then closed 
and God himself are defined by 
the same term in the same sen- 
tence, — the " aionion times" 
and the " aionion God." One 
is temporal and the other eter- 
nal, though both are defined 
by the same word. These 
passages explain Matt. xxv. 
46. The life and the punish- 
ment are not of equal duration, 
though described by the same 
word; for the adjective aionios, 
rendered everlasting, acquires 
its meaning, in any instance 
of its use, from the quality 
of the substantive with which 
it is connected. Says Arch- 
deacon Earrar of this objec- 
tion : "This is absolutely no 
argument whatever, and ought 



never to be heard again." 
And Prof. Tayler Lewis re- 
marks of Matt. xxv. 46 : 
" These shall go away into the 
punishment (the restraint, im- 
prisonment) of the world to 
come, and those into the life 
of the world to come ; that 
is all we can etymologi- 
cally or exegetically make of 
the word in this passage." 
Thus the soul's immortal des- 
tiny does not depend on so 
equivocal a word as aionios. 
(See "Immortal Life.") In 
the Bible punishment is dis- 
ciplinary. [Hanson's "Aion- 
Aionios" and "Bible Threat- 
enings Explained ; " " Univer- 
salis t Book of Reference ; " 
Bisbee's "Universalism."] 

Punishment, Future, is 
not taught in the Old Testa- 
ment. (See Warburton, " Di- 
vine Legation/' iii. ; Jahn, 
"Archaeology," 398; Milman, 
"History of the Jews," i. ; 
Campbell, ,etc.) All Univer- 
salists agree to this. But 
some think the doctrine is 
taught in a few New Testa- 
ment texts, and that it is the 
plain teaching of reason and 



70 



UNIVERSALIST 



philosophy. Others deny that 
it is the subject of revelation, 
but that the probabilities point 
to the continuance of the con- 
sequences of sin into the fu- 
ture life. Others, it is be- 
lieved comparatively few, hold 
that the consequences of con- 
duct on earth do not extend 
beyond the grave. All agree 
that retribution is certain and 
of limited duration, but dis- 
agree on the question of post- 
mortem punishment. Univer- 
salists do not recognize the 
distinction sometimes made 
between Restorationists and 
Universalists. (See "Restor- 
ationists.") [Brooks's "New 
Departure."] 

Purpose and Will of God. 
— God has willed, purposed 
universal holiness; and his 
will, purpose, is destined to 
fulfilment. [Hanson's "Bible 
Proofs. 55 ] 

Ransom, — The ransom 
paid by Christ was not, as 
the old theologies taught, a 
price paid to the devil to res- 
cue man from his power, nor 
a price paid to divine justice 



to slake God's infinite thirst 
for the sinner's damnation. 
Both these theories violate 
every principle of justice and 
equity. To punish Christ for 
man's sins is what a just God 
could never do. Man is a 
slave of sin, and Christ is a 
ransom figuratively only, as 
he lived and died to deliver 
man from its power. He ran- 
soms, that is, redeems or saves 
the sinner from his sin. God 
is represented as saying (Hos. 
xiii. 14), "I will ransom them 
from the power of death. 5 ' As 
this language does not mean 
that God paid a price to death 
to deliver man, neither does 
similar language denote that 
Christ literally paid a price 
to secure man's welfare ; the 
meaning in both cases is re- 
demption, deliverance. [Thay- 
er's " Theology."] 

Rationalism. — (See 
"Reason. 55 ) This term usu- 
ally denotes a system of re- 
ligious thought that rejects 
revelation, inspiration, and the 
miraculous ; but it should mean 
a system that accepts revela- 
tion, inspiration, and the mir- 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



71 



aculous on rational grounds. 
Properly understood, Chris- 
tianity is a rational religion. 
The Universalist is a Christian 
rationalist. While there are 
Christians who deride reason 
and accept an irrational theol- 
ogy, and while there are those 
who reject the Scriptures and 
walk by the light of unillumin- 
ated reason, the Universalist 
finds that reason supplements 
revelation and that revelation 
complements and re-enforces 
reason. His system is Chris- 
tian Rationalism, a rational 
Christianity. He does not 
accept a doctrine that his rea- 
son does not sanction, nor one 
that revelation condemns. 

Reason. — (See " Rational- 
ism.") Man's guide and au- 
thority is reason. While there 
are conclusions he must adopt 
that are above reason, he can- 
not receive or believe what 
is contrary to reason. Even 
a genuine faith must have rea- 
son as its foundation. The 
faith faculty in man, by which 
he soars into regions where 
reason cannot go, builds on 
reason as its basis. The Bible 



is authority ; and every doc- 
trine it teaches is authoritative, 
because rational inquiry has 
ascertained that its claims are 
valid and authentic. Even it 
must be judged by this tri- 
bunal. An unreasonable tenet, 
a statement or doctrine con- 
trary to reason, were such 
found in the Scriptures, — as 
they are not, — could not be 
accepted. Eor example, the 
miracles of the New Testa- 
ment, regarded as in harmony 
with laws above and beyond 
the scope of human knowledge, 
are reasonable. If we cannot 
see how they were wrought, 
it is easy to understand that 
there are laws above those we 
observe, — as the law of the 
lodestone is above the law of 
gravitation, — in obedience to 
which they were performed. 
Reason is man's inseparable 
light, whose guidance he must 
never disregard, must always 
follow. An unreasonable doc- 
trine of religion is always a 
falsehood. 

Reconciliation, Recon- 
cile, etc. — (See " Atone- 
ment.") The New Testament 



72 



UN1VERSALIST 



always represents man as rec- 
onciled to God, never God 
as reconciled to man. by the 
life and death of Christ. The 
apostle says (Rom. v. 11), 
"By whom we have now re- 
ceived the reconciliation ; " in 
King James's Version, "atone- 
ment:'"' bnt the word is not 
in the Revised Version, which 
has properly snbstituted "rec- 
onciliation." Man is unrec- 
onciled to God through sin; 
and he, the alienated party, is 
the only one to be reconciled. 
All the labors of Christ are 
directed to the work of ele- 
vating man to harmonious re- 
lations with God. who always 
did and always will sustain 
the attitude of reconciliation 
to man. [Hanson's " Bible 
Threatening Explained."] 

Redemption is equivalent 
to salvation (which see). Jesus 
is the Redeemer because 
he is a Saviour. To redeem 
is to save or deliver from 
sin, error, sorrow. Christ 
redeems men (1 Pet. i. 18). 
Paul says. "We have redemp- 
tion," which is forgiveness 
(Eph. i. 7). 



Regenerate. — (See "Re- 
new," "New Birth.") To 
be regenerated is to be born 
again, not miraculously, but 
naturally. As the first gen- 
eration of each person was a 
perfectly natural process, so 
the second must be. To be 
born anew is to be as one was 
at the first ; and regeneration 
consists in loving God su- 
premely and man universally. 
Regeneration is the beginning 
of a new and better life in the 
soul. "Regeneration" occurs 
twice in the Bible (Matt. xix. 
23; Tit. iii. 5). [Thayer's 
"Theology."] 

Renew. — (See "Children," 
"Human Nature/ 3 "Infants.") 
All men must be renewed, that 
is. restored to their condition 
when new, — which is to say, 
that human beings begin life in 
a condition of purity, sinless- 
ness. Men could not be made 
good when " renewed " if hu- 
man nature were " depraved," 
corrupt. To be miewed is 
to be made as when new, 
[Thayer's "Theology."'] 

Repent, Repentance. — 
The Greek for " repent " is 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



73 



metanoeite, and signifies a rad- 
ical change of disposition and 
character. Reform is the 
better word. John's real lan- 
guage is, " Reform, for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand. 55 
The reason for repentance was 
not that hell might be escaped, 
but that the happiness of 
Christ's reign may be enjoyed. 
All sinners must reform, and 
reformation is the supreme 
demand of the gospel. Chil- 
dren do not need repentance, 
for they were created pure ; 
but all adults must reform 
as the prime condition of 
beginning the higher life. 
When God is said to have 
repented, it means that he 
changed his course of pro- 
ceeding. When it is said 
(Rom. xi. 29), " the gifts and 
calling of God are without 
repentance, 55 the thought is 
that they are never regretted, 
— are fixed and unchangeable. 

Reprobate. — Counterfeit, 
impure. Jeremiah says (vi. 
30), "Reprobate silver shall 
men call them. 55 So evil men 
are like spurious coin, ff abomi- 
nable, disobedient, unto every 



good work reprobate 55 (Tit. i. 
16). The word in the Xew 
Testament means corrupt, and 
never, as the word is employed 
theologically, foreordained' to 
evil. 

Restore, Restorationists, 
Restitution, etc. — (See 
ft Future Punishment. 55 ) The 
use of the word " restore 55 in 
the " Winchester Profession 55 
(which see) conveys an erro- 
neous impression, and the term 
" Restorationists 5 ' applied to 
some Universalists is inaccu- 
rate. All mankind cannot be 
restored " to holiness and hap- 
piness, 55 for the sufficient rea- 
son that all mankind were 
never holy and happy ; and it 
goes without sayiug that it is 
impossible to restore the en- 
tire race to a condition it 
never occupied. (See C£ Holi- 
ness. 5 ') Nor for the same 
reason can Universalists prop- 
erly be called Restorationists. 
The latter term usually desig- 
nates those who believe in 
post-mortem discipline. The 
words were first employed by 
those who believed that the 
whole race were originally holy 



74 



UNIVERSALIST 



and happy in their "federal 
head/ 5 Adam, — an utter fic- 
tion, and an idea not suppos- 
able or even thinkable, — that 
they fell from that estate, and 
are to be restored to their 
original status quo. No 
Universalist entertains any 
such thought ; and, therefore, 
strictly speaking, " Restora- 
tionalist 55 is a misnomer. The 
" restoration of all things " 
(Acts iii. 21, Revised Version) 
denotes the universal alle- 
giance of all men to God. 

Resurrection. — There 
are two meanings to this 
word : a literal rising from 
physical death, or living be- 
yond the death of the body; 
and a figurative, a moral or 
spiritual awakening. (See 
" Resurrection of Damna- 
tion.") The latter is referred 
to in Luke xiv. 14, " the res- 
urrection of the just," or 
righteous. The meaning of 
such passages may be ascer- 
tained by reading Isa. lxv. 
17-25, lxvi. 20-21 ; Dan. xii. 
1-37 ; Matt. xiii. 40-43, xvi. 
27, 28; Luke xxi. 28-33. The 
prophets foretold the exalta- 



tion, lifting up, anastasis of 
the just on the establishment 
of the reign of the Messiah; 
and Jesus taught the same doc- 
trine. His disciples were to 
be exalted by fidelity to his 
teachings. This is the mean- 
ing of "the resurrection of the 
righteous," though it is sup- 
posed by some to teach that 
obedience in this life will give 
the soul a greater blessedness 
in the next state of being. 
Whether taught in this lan- 
guage or not, the doctrine is 
no doubt true. The literal res- 
urrection (Mark xii. 18-27 ; 
Luke xx. 27-40; Matt. xxii. 
23-33 ; 1 Cor. xv.) is of all 
mankind to immortal holiness 
and happiness. 1. "The dead 
(all) are raised." 2. They are 
immortal : " they cannot die 
any more." 3. They are pure, 
holy : "equal to the angels of 
God in heaven." This doc- 
trine astonished the hearers of 
our Lord (Matt. xxii. 33); be- 
cause the Pharisees believed in 
a partial salvation, and the 
Sadducees in no resurrection, 
and the Pagans accepted similar 
views. Universal salvation is 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



75 



the only doctrine that could 
have astonished such au audi- 
ence. The literal resurrection 
is described in John xi. 24. 
The word when applied to 
the future existence not only 
means living again, but also a 
higher life, such being the 
meaning of anastasis. 

Resurrection of Christ. 
— The Christian religion is 
based on the visible resurrec- 
tion of Jesus the Christ after 
his death. Some Universal- 
ists think it was his spiritual 
body that was seen; others, 
that he reanimated the cruci- 
fied body. Either view may 
be held; but the fact that 
he was seen alive, after his 
physical death, is the funda- 
mental fact on which Chris- 
tianity is based, and is held 
by Universalists. [Hanson's 
"Bible Proofs."] 

Resurrection of Damna- 
tion. — (John v. 29.) (See 
" Resurrection. 5 ') " Damna- 
tion " should be "judgment." 
This is not the final, or an 
after-death resurrection, but 
the spiritual awakening (anas- 
tasis) produced by the advent of 



Jesus. The "all in the graves" 
does not include all men, but 
only " those who had done 
good and those who had done 
evil." This language excludes 
all infants, who have never 
done either good or evil. It 
is a similar resurrection to 
that described in Ezek. xxxvii. : 
" the valley of dry bones," 
which is explained as " the 
whole house of Israel," in this 
world. The entire account in 
John v., where this language 
" resurrection of damnation " 
is found, describes events that 
occurred then, as the words 
"now is," in verse 25, show. 
This is the view taken by 
Dr. George Campbell, Light- 
foot, Doddridge, Whitby, and 
others. (See "Damnation.") 
[Hanson's " Bible Threaten- 
ings Explained ; " " Univer- 
salist Book of Reference."] 

Revenge is forbidden (Lev. 
xix. 17, IS; 1 Pet. iii. 9). 
It consists in returning evil 
for evil. Forbidding it to 
man, God is incapable of it. 
This fact alone should protect 
every Christian mind from the 
doctrine of endless torment. 



76 



UNI VERSALIS T 



Reward. — The life beyond 
the grave is in no sense the 
reward of right living here, 
except that a soul developed 
in good here must begin the 
future with larger capacities 
for good and for happiness. 
But the reward of well-doing 
is immediate. The " eternal 
life " resulting from obedience 
to God is in this world. " This 
is eternal life, to know thee 
the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom thou hast sent " 
(John xvii. 3). 

Rich Man and Lazarus. 
— These are characters in a 
parable, the rich man repre- 
senting the Jewish priesthood, 
and Lazarus the Gentiles. 
(See " Great Gulf/' "Hell," 
etc.) All the scenery and 
characters are parts of a para- 
ble describing the subsequent 
condition in this world of the 
characters referred to. [Han- 
son's " Bible Threatenings 
Explained. 5 '] 

Righteous. — Strictly 
speaking, there is not a per- 
fectly righteous man in the 
world, for (S there is no man 
that liveth and sinneth not." 



(Ecc. vii. 20) ; " there is none 
righteous, no, not one " (Rom. 
iii. 10). Even Jesus dis- 
claimed righteousness when 
he said, tf Call me not good ; 
there is none good but God " 
(Matt. xix. 17). And yet the 
term is frequently used. There 
are those who are in the scrip- 
tural sense "righteous." Who 
are they ? Those who are 
aiming towards the right, who 
are endeavoring to do what is 
right. The right-minded are 
righteous. cc Imputed right- 
eousness " is a theological fic- 
tion. Bight eousness could no 
more be imputed than health 
or sickness. The man who is 
facing heavenward, Godward, 
is righteous. Righteousness 
and character are interchange- 
able terms. 

Salvation is deliverance 
from sin and its consequences, 
not escape from deserved pun- 
ishment. One can never be 
saved from endless punish- 
ment or irretrievable suffering ; 
for with a just and merciful 
God controlling the universe 
one can never be exposed to 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



77 



such a fate. Universal salva- 
tion means universal holiness, 
no less. Salvation is char- 
acter, growth out of sin into 
holiness. [Thayer's " Theol- 

ogy"] 

Satan. — (See " Devil/') 
The meaning of the word is 
adversary. Its ordinary use 
is to personify evil as an en- 
emy of mankind. It is not 
a personal being, but a per- 
sonification. "Satan," "the 
devil," are words sometimes 
used to signify a semi-omnipo- 
tent evil being who is a rival 
of the Almighty for the con- 
trol of the moral universe ; 
but these ideas are gross mis- 
apprehensions of a metaphori- 
cal use of language to denote 
human adversaries, or that 
which is inimical to human 
welfare. [" Universalist Book 
of Reference. 5 '] 

Saved. — This term (see 
" Salvation," " Saviour ") is 
used variously. (Luke xiii. 
23) " Are there few being 
saved ? " (literal rendering) re- 
fers to deliverance from the 
coming woes on the Jewish 
nation. See verse 26, where 



those who ask the question 
say, " We have eaten and 
drunk in thy presence, and 
thou hast taught in our 
streets " (Luke xiii. 26) ; that 
is, they asked if few should be 
delivered from the approach- 
ing calamities of the times. 
The word often has a similar 
meaning. It chiefly, however, 
denotes deliverance from sin 
and its consequences, into holi- 
ness, — a work Jesus came to 
accomplish. But it never de- 
notes, in the Bible, escape from 
endless torment, or even from 
deserved punishment of any 
kind. [Paige's " Comment- 
ary;" Thayer's " Theology."] 
Saviour. — Jesus is a Sav- 
iour, not because he is a sub- 
stitute for the sinner's punish- 
ment, or is a way of escape 
from the consequences of the 
sinner's guilt, but because his 
truth, his example, accepted 
and reproduced, will deliver 
from the thraldom of sin. 
Christ is a universal Saviour, 
because he will finally elevate 
all souls out of sin into holi- 
ness (I Tim. iv. 10 ; John iv. 
42; 1 Johniv. 14). 



78 



UNIVERSALIST 



Second Coming of Christ. 

— This lias already taken 
place (Matt. xxiv. 24-31, xvi. 
27, 28, x. 23 ; Rev. i. 3, etc.) 
He came in the generation 
living at the time of Jerusa- 
lem's destruction. [" Univer- 
salist Book of Reference ; " 
Hanson's " Bible Threaten- 
ings Explained."] 

Shall not find me. — 
This language was addressed 
to the sinful Jews, (John viii. 
21) " You shall seek me and 
not find me, and you will die 
in your sins ; where I go, you 
cannot come." But similar 
words were also addressed to 
the disciples (John xiii. 33), 
" As I said unto the Jews, 
* Where I go, yon cannot 
come ; ' so now I say to you." 
True, he said to Peter, " You 
cannot follow me now, but yon 
shall follow me afterward ; " 
and so he said to the Jews, 
(Matt, xxiii. 39) " You shall 
not see me till you shall say, 
'Blessed is he that cometh in 
the name of the Lord ! ' " The 
evident meaning is, in both 
cases, that the separation was 
to be but temporary. [Han- 



son's " Bible Threatenings 
Explained."] 

Sin.— (See "Evil.") What- 
ever is contrary to man's na- 
ture, voluntarily done by man, 
is sin. He was created inno- 
cent, pure ; and the law of his 
moral nature is violated when- 
ever he does wrong. Con- 
science is God's voice in the 
soul, never silent ; and when- 
ever man goes contrary to its 
dictates, he sins. But the 
consequences of sin are finite, 
and will end. 

Sin against the Holy 
Ghost. — (See " Never For- 
giveness.") The sin here de- 
scribed consisted in ascribing 
the wonderful works of Jesus 
to an evil spirit (Matt. xii. 
31, 32). The language cannot 
be literal, because we are told 
that all other sins shall be for- 
given just as positively as that 
this one shall not be. This 
would leave only one class 
of transgressors nnforgiven. 
Manifestly " shall" and "shall 
not" are to be understood 
with allowance. Campbell 
says the expression is "a 
noted Hebraism," to teach 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



79 



that one event is more likely 
to occur than another, and not 
that either shall or shall not 
come ; just as Jesus says : 
" Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but my word shall not 
pass away ; " and " not seven 
times, but seventy times 
seven." It is a strong form 
of affirmation, preceded by a 
negative statement to strength- 
en it. The plain meaning is, 
any other sin is more excus- 
able than this. Newcome 
says : " It is a common figure 
of speech in the Oriental lan- 
guages, to say of things, that 
one shall be and the other shall 
not be, when the meaning is, 
that the one shall happen 
sooner or more easily than the 
other." (See " This World 
and the World to Come.") 
[Hanson's " Bible Threaten- 
ings Explained ; 55 ei Univer- 
salist Book of Reference."] 

Sin, Original. — This 
term, as ordinarily understood, 
has no meaning. Each man's 
first transgression is his orig- 
inal sin, and he is responsible 
for and affected by no other. 
Adam's sin had no more influ- 



ence on his posterity than his 
virtuous acts. " Original sin " 
is a theological fiction. [Bai- 
louts " Atonement."] 

Sin unto Death. — (1 John 
v. 16, 17.) An offence under 
Jewish law for which literal 
death was the penalty ; a cap- 
ital offence. 

Son of God. — This phrase 
and " Son of man " occur 
about eighty times each in the 
New Testament. All men are 
sons of God ; but Jesus is the 
Son, because he was " the 
brightness of the Father's 
glory and the express image 
of his person." 

Spirits in Prison. — It is 
thought by some, that this 
language (1 Pet. iii. 19) 
teaches that Christ in person 
went to the under-world and 
proclaimed the gospel to souls 
there. Others think that Jesus 
pre-existed before his advent, 
and spoke the truth through 
the mouths of wise and holy 
men. But the general view 
among Universalists is, that 
the spirit of Christianity is 
here meant ; that it was heard 
by those who, before Christ, 



80 



UNIVERSALIST 



proclaimed spiritual truth ; 
that the prison means the hu- 
man body in which the immor- 
tal spirit is confined ; that " the 
spirits in prison " are human 
beings in this world. The 
language is difficult of inter- 
pretation, but any one of the 
above views may be properly 
held. [Paige's " Commen- 
tary."] 

Strait Gate, The, (Luke 
xiii. 23; Matt. vii. 13, 14) 
denotes the difficult task of 
obeying the Golden Rule, or 
the exacting nature of the re- 
ligion of Christ. The strait 
or narrow gate is the entrance 
to the Christian life. Few 
enter it, and the many follow 
the broad way that leads to 
moral death. [Hanson's "Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained."] 

Supernatural. — (See 
" Miracle/ 5 " Natural," "In- 
spiration.") There are Uni- 
versalists who deny the super- 
natural : but the prevalent 
view is, that while the course 
of events is according to well- 
known law, there have been 
occurrences outside the course 
of nature ; that is to say, not 



contrary to or in violation of 
the laws of nature, but above 
all that is known of nature's 
laws, — not unnatural, but su- 
pernatural. The raising of 
Lazarus was a supernatural 
act, but wrought by one who 
possessed a knowledge of laws 
superior to that law which 
held the dead in the grave. 
All the miracles of Christ were 
performed by one whose su- 
pernatural knowledge enabled 
him to take advantage of laws 
uuknown to others. The law 
of gravitation would cause a 
needle to sink in water; the 
law of magnetism overcomes 
the law of gravitation. Jesus 
wrought miracles by law ; but 
the acts were supernatural, 
because of knowledge and 
abilities conferred upon him 
by God for the special purpose 
of aiding his divine mission. 
The miracles of Christ, his 
birth, his wonderful acts, the 
truths he revealed, his reap- 
pearance after death, were not 
unnatural, but supernatural. 

Tartarus. — (See " Hell," 
"Eire," " Eternal Eire," etc.) 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



81 



Tartarus occurs only once in 
the New Testament (2 Pet. ii. 
4), and the writer employs a 
fable to illustrate his theme. 
In the apocryphal book Enoch 
there is a long account of 
fallen angels ; and Peter 
alludes to the story just as 
writers often do now, not to 
endorse the statements of the 
book, but to illustrate the 
subject of his epistle. So 
writers now refer to iEsop 
or classic story, to illustrate a 
truth. The three words in 
the New Testament translated 
hell ought to stand as the 
names of real or imaginary 
localities, — Hades, Gehenna, 
Tartarus. Had they done so, 
no reader would think of giv- 
ing to them the meaning so 
long ascribed to the word hell, 
but would understand them 
as meaning the grave, or state 
of the dead, the vale of Hin- 
nom, or the heathen's imagin- 
ary prison-house in the future 
world, or the consequences of 
sin, or sorrow, or calamity in 
this life. The Universalist 
regards hell as signifying the 
consequences of sin, severe 



but salutary, to endure as 
long as sin endures, but to 
end with the reformation of 
the sinner. [Hanson's "Bible 
Hell;" "Universalist Book of 
Reference."] 

Temptation. — (See 
"Temptation of Christ.") The 
sources of temptation are the 
animal nature. Sinners are 
drawn away by their passions 
and enticed (James i. 14). 
Temptation is not sin ; but sin 
is perpetrated when the will 
yields and a prohibited act is 
committed. Virtue is tempta- 
tion resisted. Jesus " was 
tempted in all points as we 
are" (Heb. iv. 15), but he 
did not sin, because he suc- 
cessfully resisted all the in- 
ducements that assailed him. 

Temptation of Christ. — 
(Matt. iv. 1-11 ; Mark i. 12, 
13; Luke iv. 1-13.) This 
is an allegory, and is not 
to be taken literally; it is 
symbolical and not historical. 
So say Lange, Olshausen, 
Neander, and others. Jesus 
" was tempted in all points as 
we are" (Heb. iv. 15). He 
was, therefore, tried by the 



82 



UNIVERSALIST 



tendencies of the animal na- 
ture, which he possessed in 
common with all his brethren ; 
but he was without sin, be- 
cause he did not yield to their 
suggestions and promptings. 
" Every man when tempted 
is drawn away by his own 
lusts/' says James (i. II). 
Satan, the devil, the tempter, 
is the animal nature, "the 
law of the members," that 
assails the moral, the spirit- 
ual nature (see " Devil," 
"Satan"). In our Lord's 
temptation he seems to have 
been assailed by hunger, self- 
reliance, and ambition. The 
allegory describes the conflict 
that was waged within, as he 
decided the course of his life. 
It was subjective and not 
objective, and so represents the 
conflict that all experience 
between 

" T\ro opposite desires ; 
The straggle of the instinct that enjoys, 
And the more nohle instinct that 
aspires." 

[Paige's " Commentary."] 

This World and the 
World to Come. — (See 
" End of the World," (< Never 



Forgiveness," "Eternal Dam- 
nation.") This phraseology 
is found in Matt. xii. 32; 
Mark iii. 29 ; and Luke xii. 
10. The literal rendering is, 
" neither in this nor the com- 
ing age," — that is, the Mosaic 
or the Christian. But these 
two ages will both end, and 
be followed by " the dispensa- 
tion of the fulness of the 
ages." The meaning is, that 
the sin of ascribing the good 
deeds of Jesus to an evil spirit 
would be the worst of sins, 
whether judged by the prin- 
ciples of Judaism or Christian- 
ity, and not that it would 
be literally unpardonable sin. 
Locke says ("Notes on Gala- 
tians "), " The kingdom of God 
under the Mosaic constitution 
was called aion outos, this age ; 
or, as it is commonly trans- 
lated, this world. But the 
kingdom of God under the 
Messiah is, in the New Tes- 
tament, called aion mellon, 
the world or age to come." 
Pearce says in his " Notes," 
"Neither in this age nor in 
the age to come." So all 
commentators. The world (or 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



83 



age) to come will end when 
Jesus delivers up his kingdom 
to God the Father (1 Cor. xv. 
24), so that the " aonian sin" 
spoken of here is not to 
be of eternal duration. Be- 
sides, no sin is literally un- 
pardonable, for (1 John i. 7) 
"the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanseth us from all sin." Dr. 
Adam Clarke says, "Though 
I follow the common transla- 
tion, yet I am fully satisfied 
the meaning of the words is, 
neither in this dispensation, — 
namely, the Jewish, — nor that 
which is to come. Olam ha- 
bo, the world to come, is a 
constant phrase for the times 
of the Messiah, in the Jewish 
writers." Gilpin : " Nobody 
can suppose, considering the 
whole tenor of Christianity, 
that there can be any sin 
which, on repentance, may not 
be forgiven. This, therefore, 
seems only a strong way of 
expressing the difficulty of 
such repentance." ["Univer- 
salist Book of Reference ; " 
" Bible Threatenings Ex- 
plained ; " Tabor's "End of 
the World."] 



Tophet. — A place in the 
valley of Hinnom (Jer. xix. 
14, vii. 31 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 10), 
named from toph, the Hebrew 
word meaning drum, because 
drums were beaten to drown 
the cries of infants sacrificed 
to Moloch there. It came to 
be used to signify the horrors 
of sin. 

Trinity. — Some of the 
early American, like many 
of the ancient, Universalists 
were Trinitarians ; but so 
far as is known, all professed 
Universalists are Unitarians. 
(See " Christ.") While there 
are multitudes in Trinitarian 
churches who accept the dis- 
tinguishing idea of Univer- 
salism, the denomination is 
Unitarian. Differing as to 
the pre-existence of Christ 
and as to his actual rank in 
the scale of being, on which 
most do not dogmatize, all are 
substantially agreed in reject- 
ing the Trinity and in ranking 
the Son as subordinate to the 
Father. Some of the texts 
relied upon are these : John 
xiv. 31, v. 17-30, vii. 1-52, 
viii. 12-17; Matt. xx. 17-19, 



84 



UNIVERSAL1ST 



xiii. 53-58, xxiv. 36, xxvii. 
[Crane's " Jesus the Christ ; " 
Thayer's " Theology."] 

Undying Worm, The. — 

The figure of the worm that 
dies not is derived from the 
worms that preyed on the 
offal in Gehenna, the recep- 
tacle of the filth of Jerusalem. 
They were always at their 
work until their natural food 
was consumed. But as that 
long ago was eaten, the worms 
have ceased from being. But 
their work was beneficent. 
They prevented putrefaction 
and corruption from produc- 
ing disease. And as they are 
analogues of the penalties of 
sin, the consequences of wrong- 
doing, it should be plain that 
the latter are beneficent, and 
will result in purification. 
(See "Punishment.") [Han- 
son's " Aion-Aionios," " Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained."] 
Universal Salvation. — 
This phrase is synonymous 
with universal holiness, uni- 
versal obedience to God, for 
it means universal deliverance 
from sin. Salvation is not 



from " hell " nor from de- 
served punishment, but from 
sin (Matt. i. 21). Any man 
or woman who believes that 
God will at some time in the 
future succeed in eradicating 
sin and rendering all souls 
holy and happy, is a Univer- 
salis^ whatever else is believed 
or disbelieved. 

Universalism. — The doc- 
trine of the ultimate holiness 
and happiness of all mankind, 
whether punishment is be- 
lieved to be confined to this 
life or continues after death. 

Universalist Profession 
of Belief. — (See " Creed," 
" Winchester Profession.") 
The Universalists in their 
General Convention in 1803, 
in Winchester, N. H., adopted 
the " Winchester Profession," 
which see. 

Universalists. — Who are 
Universalists ? All those 
Christians who accept the doc- 
trine of the final salvation of all 
mankind. The distinction be- 
tween Universalists and Res- 
torationists is not recognized 
by Universalists. There are 
those who believe in uni- 



POCKET CYCLOPEDIA. 



85 



versal holiness and happiness 
on rational grounds alone 
(see Frances Power Cobbe's 
" Doomed to be Saved ") ; but 
the denomination reaches the 
conclusion of the final holi- 
ness and happiness of all from 
the teachings of Scripture, cor- 
roborated by the deductions 
of reason. There are Umiver- 
salists in all the denomina- 
tions ; that is, those who re- 
pudiate annihilation and end- 
less punishment, and cherish 
the hope of the salvation of 
all. The Universalist denom- 
ination is principally in the 
United States. 

Unpardonable Sin. — 
(See "This World and the 
World to Come," "End of 
the World," " Never Forgive- 
ness," "Eternal Damnation," 
etc.) [Hanson's " Bible 
Threatenings Explained."] 

Unquenchable Fire. — 
(See "Eire," "Consuming 
Eire," etc.) " Quenchless, 
inextinguishable fire " never 
means a fire that shall burn 
literally without end, but one 
that burns until it accom- 
plishes its purpose. This is 



the meaning of the language 
both in profane and sacred 
literature. Strabo (book ix.) 
calls the lamp in the Parthenon 
at Athens "inextinguishable," 
though it was long since 
quenched. Plutarch speaks 
of the " unquenchable fires " 
in the temples at Delphi and 
Athens, which, in the very 
next sentence, he says had 
sometimes gone out. Euse- 
bius (" History," lib. vi. cap. 
xli.) declares that Kronon and 
Julian were burned in un- 
quenchable fire, though it ex- 
pired when their bodies were 
consumed. Isaiah (Ixvi. 2i) 
applies the term to the burn- 
ing of men's "carcasses" in 
this world, from " one new 
moon to another." Jeremiah 
(xvii. 27) refers it to the de- 
struction of " the palaces of 
Jerusalem." Josephus ("Jew- 
ish War," book ii. chap, xvii.) 
says the fire in the temple 
" was always unquenchable," 
though when he wrote, it had 
already expired. Canon Ear- 
rar (" Eternal Hope ") observes, 
" The expression is purely a 
figure of speech, as in Homer's 



86 



UNIVERSALIS! 



' Iliad/ xvi. 123." Origen : 
"All, even Peter and Paul, 
must pass through this fire, 
and ordinary sinners must re- 
main in it till purged ... a 
figurative representation of the 
moral process by which re- 
storation shall be effected." 
Endless fire was never thought 
of by those vrho employed the 
expression, but a fire that 
should burn till it had accom- 
plished its purpose, when it 
would expire. Dr. Hammond 
correctly says, "'They put fire 
to the windward side, that 
creeps on and never gives 
over till it hath consumed all 
the chaff, and so is a kind 
of asbestos pur, a fire never 
quenchable till it has done 
its work. 5 ' [Hanson's "Bi- 
ble Threatenings Explained " 
and " Aion-Aionios ; " " Uni- 
versalist Book of Reference. 3 ''] 

Vengeance sometimes 
means punishment, regardless 
of the feelings of him who 
punishes. It refers to God as 
anger and hatred are applied 
to him, because no other word 
describes the phenomena seen 



by man, and not because God 
does or can cherish the feeling 
which, in God or man, is 
reprehensible. 

Vicarious Suffering. — 
In one sense the sufferings of 
Christ were vicarious; they 
were in man's behalf as are 
the mother's in behalf of the 
child. But they were not in- 
stead of man. They were in 
no sense substitutional. Love 
suffers for its object, and in 
a sense experiences vicarious 
sufferings. But one cannot 
receive the punishment due 
another. The blood of Christ 
was shed as was the blood of 
all martyrs, — for liberty and 
truth, as an example. He 
bore the sinner's burdens in 
his heart, but he sacrificed 
himself to teach the great 
lesson of self-sacrifice. Only 
as his followers possess his 
spirit are they profited by him. 
" If any man hath not the 
spirit of Christ, he is none of 
his" (Rom. viii. 9). In the 
true sense of the language 
vicarious suffering is impos- 
sible. [Thayer's " Theol- 
ogy."] 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



87 



Will of God.— (See "Om- 
niscience/' " Omnipotence.") 
God's will is that all souls 
shall be delivered from sin 
p. Tim. ii. 1-6).- As his will 
is moved by infinite love, 
which is his nature (1 J ohn iv. 
8), and as he is omnipotent, 
his will must be accomplished. 
(See Job. xxiii. 13 ; Prov. xix. 
21; Dan. iv. 35.) What God 
wills, he purposes ; what he 
purposes, he accomplishes. 
[Hanson's "Bible Proofs."] 

Winchester Profession. 
— (See "Creeds," " Univer- 
salist Profession of ■ Eaith.") 
This is the platform on which 
the Universalist denomination 
stands : — 

I. We believe that the Holy Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments 
contain a revelation of the character of 
God, and of the duty, interest, and 
final destination of mankind. 

II. We believe that there is one 
God, whose nature is love, revealed 
in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy 
Spirit of grace, who will finally re- 
store the whole family of mankind to 
holiness and happiness. 

III. We believe that holiness>and 
true happiness are inseparably con- 
nected, and that believers ought to be 
careful to maintain order, and practise 
good works ; for these things are good 
and profitable unto men. 



The word " restore " is ob- 
jected to by some, as failing to 
state the exact opinion of any ; 
and the utilitarian ground- 
work of conduct at the end 
of Article III. is not accepted 
by all ; but these declarations 
are regarded as expressive of 
the average sentiment of the 
denomination. 

Woe. — The better form of 
this word is "alas." It is 
not an imprecation in the New 
Testament, but an expression 
of sorrow and regret; some- 
times in the Bible compassion 
and sympathy (Matt. xxiv. 19). 
It also is used to threaten pun- 
ishment, as Hab. ii. 6-9; Zeeh. 
xi. 17 

Word, The. — The Logos, 
rendered Word, denotes the 
divine energy or wisdom in- 
carnated in Christ. In the 
account in John i., we should 
read "God was the Word" 
instead of "the Word was 
God ; " that is, the divine 
wisdom was so embodied in 
Christ, that by a figure of 
speech he can be called the 
Logos or Word, or The Wis- 
dom. 



88 



UNIVERSALIST 



Worms. — Referred to in 
connection with the valley of 
Hinnoin, where they were 
found in the offal cast there. 
Our Lord uses them as ana- 
logues of the judgments visited 
on sinners; and to justify 
their use they must, like their 
prototypes, exercise a purify- 
ing influence. The " undying 
worm " in Gehenna has long 
since performed his work and 
died. Gehenna is a green and 
flowery vale — a type of the 
heart in which the work of 
judgment has been wrought, 
and of all hearts when the 
purpose of God shall have 
been accomplished. All God's 
Gehennas are beneficent agen- 
cies of good. 

Wrath of God. — (See 
"Anger.") As men under- 
stand anger, and as men are 
controlled by wrath, God is in- 
capable of wrath or anger. He 
is unchangeably kind toward 
every human being. His love 
is without variableness or even 
the shadow of change (James 
i. 17). The emotion of wrath 
ascribed to him denotes the se- 
vere measures he adopts to- 



ward the sinner for his good. 
It is the severity of love that 
will have the welfare of the 
sinner. Unchangeable love 
can never be exercised by 
literal wrath. [" Universalist 
Book of Reference."] 

Wrath to Come. — Wrath 
about to come, impending ven- 
geance, is the exact rendering 
of this language in the New 
Testament (Luke iii. 7). It 
refers to those judgments that 
were soon to be visited on the 
wicked. It also denotes, in 
any age, the consequences of 
wrong-doing, not in the eter- 
nal world, but now and here. 
It is not literally wrath. The 
sinner so regards it, but the 
God who is exercised by the 
emotion is and can only be 
moved by love. Anger can 
be ascribed to God only by a 
figure of speech. Pearce says, 
" The punishment to come in 
the destruction of the Jewish 
state." Livermore : " Im- 
pending destruction soon to 
fall on the Jewish nation." 
"Wrath" denotes those se- 
vere judgments that seem to 
their victims dictated by hate, 



POCKET CYCLOPAEDIA. 



but are impelled by love. Lit- 
eral wrath is impossible to 
God. What seems mere anger 
to man is because he fails to see 
the purpose and effects of the 



89 

divine judgments. [" Univer- 
salist Book of Reference ; " 
Hanson's "Bible Threatenings 
Explained. 3 '] 



THE END. 



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